An orange sun was just peaking over the edge of Easter Lake Park on Sunday morning as athletes started showing up for the 2011 Iowa Games Triathlon.

Athletes from all over the country came to participate in this year’s event, which was held at a new location. What initially promised to be a dark and rainy day cleared up moments before the first horn went off.

Out of the overcast weather conditions, one champion emerged. TJ Gleason, of Sioux Falls, S.D., was the overall triathlon winner.

One member of Gleason’s team took a spill during the biking portion of the triathlon. He was not seriously injured and eventually finished the race.

Gleason was in town and had heard about the race.

“I’ve just been doing triathlons this summer. I’ve done one in Minnesota, [one in] Seattle, and then one in my hometown, which was just a training event,” Gleason said.

Among the other athletes was  ex-professional football player and former University of Iowa standout Tim Dwight. Dwight is not a stranger to the Iowa Games by any means.

“When I was a kid, I did all the track and field stuff. Then I started working my way up in different events,” Dwight said. “However, this is my first triathlon.”

In honor of the Games’ 25th anniversary, Dwight will be competing in 25 different events.

Dwight’s shortlist of events includes soccer, flag football, table tennis, and archery.

“I don’t think I’m going to practice too much archery though,” Dwight said. He added that he would  “probably just do it when [he gets] there and leave it to the pros.”

The distances of this year’s triathlon were 440 yards in the swimming stage, 13 miles in the biking stage, and 3.1 miles (5K) in the running stage. Competitors finished the biking stage in three loops. It was considered to be slightly dangerous due to early rainfall, but no one was seriously injured while completing it. The running stage only consisted of two loops.

“It felt great. Since it rained beforehand, the course was a little slick,” Gleason said. “Otherwise, it felt good.”