event photography

hey all,

who does the photography at all the events? just whoever? is there an actual photographer who comes?

i have some nice equipment and would love to take some pictures from an event (action shots mostly), but man, i don't know about carrying this stuff up some 10 mile trail and then crashing on the way down and ruining everything.

its heavy, and i know i won't "take it easy", as that just doesn't work...

anyhow, just wanted to know what people usually do. i would suspect you use some small digital cameras that you can toss in your pocket or something.

thanks