The 10th James Wright Memorial/Remembrance Enduro will quite fittingly take place at the Bovington Military Training Area on Sunday November 6th. Run by Dorset Enduro as a tribute to Weymouth-born Royal Marine James Wright, who died in action whilst serving with 42 Commando in Afghanistan, James died following an attack on his patrol base on Aug 5th 2011, he was 22 years old.
Feature Image courtesy of Nicholas Guppy
Originally first run in 2012 and called the ‘Big Reach’ Enduro after James’s Marine nickname, the early memorial events were held on August bank holidays as a stand-alone event to raise funds for the Royal Marine Charitable Trust Fund, over the following 3 years over £20,000 was raised from this and other charitable events organised by James’s family and friends.
The sport of motorcycle Enduro has strong connections with the armed forces, and donations from these events have gone to services, charities and support organisations. Scottie’s Little Soldiers is one such organisation to have benefitted from this. They provide for children who have lost family whilst serving their country, and James’s daughter Lily (who he never saw), was born in the December following his loss, has received much appreciated help and support from them. Another local charity to benefit from these fund raising events has been the Dorset air ambulance.
This event is a 3 hour race called a ‘Hare and Hound’ and is highly regarded and respected amongst the off road fraternity and attracts an entry of 150+ competitors of all abilities. Previous winners included 7 times world champion Steve Holcombe, British championship rider Brad King and multiple Weston Beach Race winner Todd Kellet.
As James was a keen off road rider his family present an award to the overall event winner and to the top rider under the age of 30 in the Sportsman class. This year the event forms part of the Dorset Enduro/Rogershill Off Road Events Winter Series and is held as close as possible to Nov 11th Remembrance Day to honour and pay tribute to the fallen from all of the armed services.
Entries are now full for this event, but spectators are welcome to attend!
