diff --git a/docs/Development/ReleaseNotes.md b/docs/Development/ReleaseNotes.md
index 44333349d..ce4cdcf84 100644
--- a/docs/Development/ReleaseNotes.md
+++ b/docs/Development/ReleaseNotes.md
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@ To check which release of VIC you are running:
 
         Updates the cesm_put_data.c routine in the CESM driver to include the correct signs for the wind stresses and fixes a bug in calculating friction velocity (previously it was missing a square root).
 
+    [GH#744] (https://github.com/UW-Hydro/VIC/pull/744)
+
+        Updates the cesm_interface_c.c routine to include missing timers and the VIC RUN timer in the CESM driver. 
+
 3. Speed up NetCDF operations in the image/CESM drivers ([GH#684](https://github.com/UW-Hydro/VIC/pull/684))
 
     These changes speed up image driver initialization, forcing reads, and history writes by only opening and closing each input netCDF file once.
diff --git a/vic/drivers/cesm/src/cesm_interface_c.c b/vic/drivers/cesm/src/cesm_interface_c.c
index b9070968a..041bc155b 100644
--- a/vic/drivers/cesm/src/cesm_interface_c.c
+++ b/vic/drivers/cesm/src/cesm_interface_c.c
@@ -97,7 +97,9 @@ vic_cesm_init(vic_clock     *vclock,
     vic_populate_model_state(trimstr(cmeta->starttype), &dmy_current);
 
     // initialize forcings
+    timer_start(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_FORCE]));
     vic_force();
+    timer_stop(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_FORCE]));
 
     // initialize output structures
     vic_init_output(&dmy_current);
@@ -121,6 +123,8 @@ vic_cesm_init(vic_clock     *vclock,
     timer_stop(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_INIT]));
     // stop vic all timer
     timer_stop(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_ALL]));
+    // init vic run timer
+    timer_init(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_RUN]));
 
     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }
@@ -135,14 +139,16 @@ vic_cesm_run(vic_clock *vclock)
 
     // continue vic all timer
     timer_continue(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_ALL]));
-    // start vic run timer
-    timer_start(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_RUN]));
+    // continue vic run timer
+    timer_continue(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_RUN]));
 
     // reset l2x fields
     initialize_l2x_data();
 
     // read forcing data
+    timer_continue(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_FORCE]));
     vic_force();
+    timer_stop(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_FORCE]));
 
     // run vic over the domain
     vic_image_run(&dmy_current);
@@ -151,7 +157,9 @@ vic_cesm_run(vic_clock *vclock)
     vic_cesm_put_data();
 
     // Write history files
+    timer_continue(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_WRITE]));
     vic_write_output(&dmy_current);
+    timer_stop(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_WRITE]));
 
     // advance the clock
     advance_vic_time();
@@ -160,8 +168,10 @@ vic_cesm_run(vic_clock *vclock)
     // if save:
     if (vclock->state_flag) {
         // write state file
+        debug("writing state file for timestep %zu", current);
         vic_store(&dmy_current, state_filename);
         write_rpointer_file(state_filename);
+        debug("finished storing state file: %s", state_filename)
     }
 
     // reset x2l fields
@@ -183,8 +193,8 @@ vic_cesm_final()
 {
     // continue vic all timer
     timer_continue(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_ALL]));
-    // start vic run timer
-    timer_start(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_RUN]));
+    // start vic final timer
+    timer_start(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_FINAL]));
 
     // clean up
     vic_cesm_finalize();
@@ -193,8 +203,10 @@ vic_cesm_final()
     timer_stop(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_FINAL]));
     // stop vic all timer
     timer_stop(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_ALL]));
-    // write timing info
-    write_vic_timing_table(global_timers, VIC_DRIVER);
 
+    if (mpi_rank == VIC_MPI_ROOT) {
+        // write timing info
+        write_vic_timing_table(global_timers, VIC_DRIVER);
+    }
     return EXIT_SUCCESS;
 }
diff --git a/vic/drivers/image/src/vic_image.c b/vic/drivers/image/src/vic_image.c
index 9e0a87283..af5ab60d3 100644
--- a/vic/drivers/image/src/vic_image.c
+++ b/vic/drivers/image/src/vic_image.c
@@ -131,9 +131,6 @@ main(int    argc,
     // start vic run timer
     timer_start(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_RUN]));
 
-    timer_init(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_FORCE]));
-    timer_init(&(global_timers[TIMER_VIC_WRITE]));
-
     // loop over all timesteps
     for (current = 0; current < global_param.nrecs; current++) {
         // read forcing data