FORMER West Somerset Railway (WSR) employee Joe Rogers, who wanted to raise £2,000 by running last month’s London Marathon, was forced by injury to postpone his run.

Mr Rogers, who is now a volunteer with the heritage railway, is supporting the West Somerset Railway Association’s (WSRA) restoration of the of BR standard class 4MT steam locomotive 80064.

He had already raised nearly £1,000 for the cause when he suffered an injury and had to pull out of the marathon.

Mr Rogers said: “Though training was going well, building on my regular half-marathon distance that I was doing last year, two physical injuries from last year, achilles tendon and back, and a number of mental setbacks related to this and other factors have significantly hampered this progress.

“As a result, I will be taking up the option to defer my place to 2026, to reset, to recover, and begin training again later this year.

“The good news is, this gives more time to continue fund-raising toward the £2,000 target and spreading awareness of the WSRA’s efforts to restore 80064 and support the running of England’s longest heritage railway.”

A WSRA spokesperson said: “The good news is we have been able to defer his place to the 2026 marathon.

“Thankfully, all pledged donations will be transferred to the 2026 marathon page, which means we are already 43 per cent toward our target.”

Six years ago, Mr Rogers became the first person to run the 20-mile length of the WSR and visit each of the 10 stations.

The WSRA was gifted locomotive 80064 in 2023 and hopes to have it running on the Minehead to Bishops Lydeard line within four years.

The spokesperson said: “Locomotives of this type have been used on the WSR in the past and proved ideal for the challenging gradients and heavy loadings experienced.”