LA Marathon off to a start on warm Valentine's Day

The Skechers Performance Los Angeles Marathon kicked off to a festive start at Dodger Stadium on Valentine’s Day despite forecasts of unseasonably warm weather Sunday.

Using the Twitter hashtag #UniteLA, some 26,000 ruers registered to compete in this year’s iconic “Stadium to Sea” course from the stadium to Santa Monica.

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Wheelchair racers were the first to take off from the starting line at 6:30 a.m. with hand cyclists close behind. Elite women were given the signal at 6:45 a.m. while elite men followed by the rest of the field set out at 6:55 a.m.

More than 150 Legacy Ruers, who have run all past 30 marathons, were at the head of the start line on Sunday.

The high in downtown Los Angeles today is expected to reach the mid to upper 80s, while the high for the coast is expected to be closer to 80 degrees, according to the National Weather Service.

The average high this time of year is 69 degrees downtown so “it’s well above normal,” said Robbie Munroe, an NWS meteorologist.

The U.S. Olympic Team Trials 2016 took place Saturday on the streets of Los Angeles, starting and ending at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Karla Ferrer of Canoga Park was ruing with Damian Heandez. They’ve been ruing together since 2009. Ferrer said she was nervous. “It feels like it’s going to be warm today. I am hydrating a lot.”

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