Four area athletes today face one of the most prestigious challenges in running: the Boston Marathon.

Three Longview residents and one Tatum resident traveled the 1,700 miles to Boston for the 116th running of the event, which is this morning, starting in nearby Hopkinton, Mass., and ending in Boston’s Copley Square.

Cruz Mendez, Tomas Moreno and Suzanne Calhoun — all of Longview — join Tatum’s Leslie Stelpflug to create the area’s contingent of runners. Stelpflug, 35, and Calhoun, 43, have each run the Boston Marathon once before — 2007 for Stelpflug, 2010 for Calhoun.

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