CNN fields largest, fastest media team in NPC Beat the Deadline 5K Race

CNN fielded the largest and fastest media team in the National Press Club 5K race on Sept. 7.

The cable network entered 22 people in the event. Its top three finishers completed the course in an average time of 19:41, edging out It’s Business Time, which clocked in at 19:47, and CQ/Roll Call, which finished at 20:55.

The top male finisher was Alemayehu Deksisa, 34, who ran the race in 15:27. He was followed by Phil Reutlinger (16:28), 34, and Travis Boltjes (16:56), 34.

Erin Taylor, 31, was the fastest female at 18:03. Barb Fallon-Wallace, 39, came in second at 18:11, and Kathryn Neeper, 29, was third at 18:59.

The fastest female Press Club member was Carrie Sheffield (23:44). The fastest male Club member was Matthew Keane (22:12). The largest and fastest open team was Team Chevy.

Runners at both ends of the age spectrum stood out on the sunny, perfect race day. The youngest female age group, 1-19, was won by 12-year-old Morgan Feist, who ran the course in 27:50. Three runners older than 75 completed the race – Zoena Yannakakis, 78, in 42:02; George Yannakakis, 81, in 27:54; and Dixon Hemphill, 88, in 48:22.

A total of 536 runners and walkers registered for the 16th annual NPC Beat the Deadline 5K, which raised about $50,000 for the NPC National Journalism Institute. The Institute, the Club’s non-profit professional development and educational unit, has provided more than $700,000 in journalism scholarships since 2000.

The 5K race "is the event that not only raises a lot of money for the Journalism Institute, it also brings together the community to celebrate it,” said Club President Angela Greiling Keane.