Chris Derrick of Naperville, Illinois defended his 2013 USA Cross Country Title with a time of 36:14 for the 12km run at the Flatirons Golf Course in Boulder, Colorado. Derrick topped runner-up Luke Puskedra of Eugene, Oregon by 25 seconds. Amy Van Alstine of Flagstaff, Arizona finished the 8km run in 27:35 to upset favorite Jenny Simpson of Boulder, Colorado by 22 seconds.

All photographs © Timothy Carlson

The senior men’s field launches the usual cavalry charge on Boulder’s Flatirons Golf Course.

Ultimate winner Chris Derrick of Naperville, Illinois (511) leads the early front pack which also included Boulder’s Brent Vaughn (671), Bobby Mack III of Raleigh, North Carolina (552), Kenyon Neuman of Boulder, Colorado (565) and Nicholas Hilton (531) of Boulder.

Jacob Riley of Rochester, Minnesota (576), Luke Puskedra of Eugene, Oregon (571), Brent Vaughn of Boulder (671), Patrick Smyth of Salt lake City (587) and Kenyon Neuman (565) chase after Derrick.

Early front pack charges.

Patrick Smyth (587), Jacob Riley (576) Christopher Barnicle (489), and Joseph Gray (526) duel midway through the run.

Christopher Barnicle (489) finished 9th and Joseph Gray (526) finished 4th.

Chris Derrick (511) breaks away from Sean Quigley (572), Bobby Mack III (552) and Luke Puskeda (571) about 9k into the run.

Chris Derrick of Colorado Springs defends his USA Cross Country National title title with a 36:14 time for the 12k course.

Luke Puskeda of Eugene, Oregon finished second, 25 seconds behind the winner.

Elkanah Kibet of Fayetteville, North Carolina finished 14th in 37:48

Alan Culpepper, a three time USA Cross Country National Champion and two time Olympian, watched the race with his three boys.

Jenny Simpson, two time Olympian and gold medalist in the 1500 meters at the 2011 World Track and Field Championship, warms up.

The joy of pre race stretching.

Early in the 8k run, Jenny Simpson (456) runs in the lead pack, just ahead of Mattie Suver (460) and Kellyn Johnson (424).

Amy Van Alstine (465) leads Kellyn Johnson (424), Jenny Simpson (456), and Alisha Williams (470).

Left to right – Jenny Simpson (456), Kellyn Johnson (424), Mattie Suver (460) and Amy Van Alstine (465).

Jamie Arnold of Westminster, Colorado (400) finished 53rd and Emily Lawrence of Boulder (432) finished 57th.

Amy Van Alstine of Flagstaff, Arizona sprints to an upset win, finishing the 8k run in 27:35 with a 22 seconds margin of victory over runner-up Jenny Simpson.

Jenny Simpson (456) sprints to a second place finish in 27:57, 4 seconds ahead of third place finisher Mattie Suver (460).

Members of the Boulder Running Company Retail Race Team were led by Alisha Williams of Colorado Springs (470), who finished 5th.