Covered in mud, a woman faces the 8-foot wall in front of her. Towering two feet, seven inches above her head, it seems more like a skyscraper. She backs up in preparation for a sprint, shaking her arms to rid them from the numbness of burpees. She’s never made it over the 8-foot wall. She runs, jumps, and doesn’t even reach the top of the wall with outstretched hands. Before she realizes what’s happening two men in black and red jerseys appear at her sides, they boost her up and over the wall where a woman in the same jersey helps her to the other side and hands her a bracelet: “CORN FED SPARTANS, if you want to know run with us.”
The Corn Fed Spartans exploded onto the OCR scene in 2012 at the Indiana Spartan Sprint. Spartan Race founder Joe DeSena remembers them bothering him endlessly until he brought his race to their home turf. “The Corn Fed are a bunch of lunatics that demanded the Spartan Race come to Indiana. I was like, I said no! But they were relentless. They drove everybody in the organization crazy until we said yes.”
A RICH HISTORY
The Corn Fed Spartans started out as the brainchild of Jonathan Nolan and Nathan Devears to bring the Spartan Race to Indiana. Devears left the team in the first year, leaving Nolan as the captain of CFS. The team’s legacy began at the very first Indiana Sprint in 2012. A team member, Steven Skidmore, who had been training for the race, died of a heart attack just a few weeks prior to accomplishing his goal. Spartan made a marble plaque with Skidmore’s name on it. A cornerstone commitment of CFS is that they never leave a man behind. Even if that man has passed away. So, Nolan put Skidmore’s plaque in a box and carried it through the course, making sure the team’s brother was able to finish the race.
Attracted by stories of hope, the team quickly reached over 2000 members by 2013. Echoes of “CORNFED!” could be heard at virtually any OCR as red and black clad runners boosted struggling runners and strangers over walls. Teammates referred to each other as family members, and it showed. Nicole Winget, former team and board member explained, “Who you run with is far more then a jersey – it is a family…”
“Not only did we do races together, but we lived our lives together. There was a support system there that no matter what you were going through, no matter how bad things seemed, someone was always there to pick you up and help you out,” said member Missy Morris.
Candie Bobick, former team and sales committee member recalls the affect the family had on her when she joined. “They really pulled me out of a dark place.”
Corn Fed was a haven for people who didn’t feel they belonged in the running world. Rick Bosley, former team member, remembered, “I was accepted almost immediately after being sedentary for what felt like years. I didn’t have to podium, there were no expectations other than to show up and try.”
Chad Weberg, who was on the planning board for Crucible (a CFS team race) and an original team member, joined the team to change his life. He loved that Corn Fed was a “great bunch of people bring a Spartan Race to Indiana and turned into motivation to live a healthier lifestyle after that race and beyond.”
But in the last week of February, 112 members left the Corn Fed Spartans. Original members left and members of the sales committee and board stepped down. The mass exodus was confusing for new team members who had seen the team’s spirit on the course and numerous newer members left after seeing the reactions on the Corn Fed Spartans Facebook page.
TROUBLE IN PARADISE
Trouble started in August of 2013 after the Corn Fed team held a charity based virtual 5k to benefit All for Hope, an organization that raises money to battle child cancer. The matter grew personal quickly as AFH is close to the hearts of many team members whose own children suffer from cancer. When the donation total was announced, there was an immediate reaction from members of the team claiming massive discrepancies in the registrations and donation.
A Facebook page was set up to allow team members and board members to perform an audit. Documents found on the page are mostly spreadsheets created by Nolan and receipts that were submitted. People felt the answers that were provided were not satisfactory and lacking transparency and that AFH was cheated out of the donation they were promised. Andè Wegner, CFS board member, claimed the discrepancies in registration and finances were due only to disorganization. But, still many on the team felt differently.
Money was brought into the spotlight and from there, more issues quickly came to the team’s attention. People started to question where their money was going when they bought gear, jerseys or registration through the team. A Corn Fed racer asked Nolan if they bought a jersey, where the money would go. He answered, “Whatever we make in the store goes to paying for banners, flags, the website, etc.” That is the blanket answer that was given to most team members.
In July, 2013 a bank account for the team was opened. The CFS bank account is allegedly used only to pay invoices and team expenses on top of the extra branding for the team. Bobick has serious doubts to the truth of this statement. “He [Nolan], is trying to portray it as a family… he keeps saying ‘We’re buying flags, banners, bracelets and whatever else.’ And that’s not necessarily the case. I think we did buy one round of flags, which, yes was a lot of money, I think we bought 4 or 5.”
Winget, former team and board member expressed her concerns about finances, “At one point Nolan told us that we would have to take money from the jersey fund to pay the gear order. Why? If money was being spent legitimately, we should have thousands upon thousands of dollars in excess funds. “
The team made a profit several ways. They made a small profit on the team’s jerseys and also sold t-shirts, beanies, sleeves and other merchandise from their online store. They accepted sponsorship from outside businesses such as Mini Cooper and Zico. Spartan paid the team through the Spartan Race Affliate program which allows the CFS website, to register racers. Each racer that signs up this way prompts a certain amount to be given back to Corn Fed.
Despite this solid income, invoices remained unpaid for weeks or months. When Terry McCormack, another former team and sales committee member left the team, there was a past due invoice over 60 days old for over $4,000. A copy of the invoice was provided by Bobick. As of this writing, the invoice was still unpaid.
McCormack said the role of the sales committee wasn’t to pay the invoices, just to organize the gear on the CFS store. “Invoices just came to us. All we did was see them and we had to tell the powers that be.” So, where is all the money going? For McCormack, the answer is in the lack of communication from Nolan. “I don’t think the money is there. I can’t speculate as to where it is.”
TEAM COLORS
Explosive discussions erupted when jersey orders began to take over 6 months to be delivered. Adam Witmer-Bosley finally contacted Akuma. “When the whole thing happened initially and we were promised the order had been placed along with two others, Akuma verified that only one order had been placed for 28 jerseys and the other 127 jerseys were never sent to them.”
According to Akuma and other teams who use Akuma, orders should only take approximately 3 weeks to ship and arrive. Former members of the sales committee explained that Nolan was the only one in charge of the jerseys. McCormack said when they approached Nolan and the board, “It was, ‘Oh akuma won’t get back to us!’ Well, we started contacting them and they got back to us right away. So, we realized the problem wasn’t with the vendor.”
McCormack, Winget and Bobick all left their positions on the team after a supposed vote took place, that according to Winget and McCormack, did not. The sales committee had proposed that they take over the ordering of jerseys. In line with their proposed plan of quarterly jersey orders, they worked on a jersey order for 2 months, moving forward with executing this facet of sales. The day before the order was due, the responsibility was taken from them in a “vote” by the board.
Winget explained, “The final straw was when a post was made saying the board voted for something when no vote ever occurred. To say that a decision was made with my vote when that was a flat out lie infuriated me.”
According to McCormack, the board is now made up of John Shue, Ande Wegner and Rick Lagacy. Last he knew, all other members had left.
Tensions grew and more members brought issues to light. Nolan remained unsatisfyingly behind the scenes. For many people, simply answering questions clearly, and effectively communicating with the team would make them happy. “We’ve asked for something to quiet the masses. As far as, if there’s nothing going on, shut these people up, pay the bills and let’s go back to racing,” McCormack explained.
TEAM, BUSINESS, OR BOTH?
Nolan owns Corn Fed Spartans, LLC. But, no statement has been made by Nolan about where the team’s money is, what it’s being used for, and if Nolan himself is making a profit.
Other teams have established a successful system for handling money in a variety of ways. Paul Jones, leader of the NE Spahtens, runs his team with a group of nine well-established administrators. “Our admin group is in daily communication- and questions around purchasing, financing, gear and such are handled together. We’ve had no need for a named treasurer or formal committee,” said Jones.
But, it’s not run like a business. Jones and the admin team make no profit off of their gear. There is a PayPal account in Jones’ name that every admin has access to and out of which invoices and purchasing are done.
On the other hand, MudRunFun was started as a business with a team bearing the same name. Damion “At Mudrunfun” Trombley and business partner Matthew O’Leary run MUDRUNFUN, LLC. Unlike NE Spahtens, they are the only two who handle funds. Trombley responded to my questions by first clarifying that all the questions I sent him were “great for a Team that has become a business, not a business that [has] a team built around it.”
The money that is generated through internet based marketing sales is deposited in the business and Material for the team’s products are bought with the money invested in MUDRUNFUN, LLC. “We are able to keep our material cost low for the customer because branding is more important to us than profiting off apparel,” Trombley said.
Running a team and a company of this size is more than a hobby. It can be a job. “Do we pay ourselves?… Yes, we pay ourselves a salary based off company profit as any partnership would. We also pay employees, project managers and our sub-contractors as needed,” said Trombley.
The Corn Fed Spartans started out as a team made of friends and family. Issues began when the team began to transition from a team into a business. As one Corn Fed put it, Nolan “made everyone on the page a customer instead of a member.” Nolan is the only one with access to the Corn Fed Spartans team fund bank account.
For some time, there has been growing speculation that not only are the funds being mishandled and that the money is missing, but that Nolan benefits personally from the money without disclosure. Bobick explained, “I do believe that Jonathan Nolan is using the money. I know a lot of people say it’s an LLC and it’s in his name and he can basically use the money however he wants. But, when you tell you team that whatever money is coming back is being used for the team, and that’s not 100% accurate I do believe the team has a right to know that. He could just step forward and say hey, ‘I’m running this as a business, I do make money off of it, I am buying gear and races and gas and alcohol and whatever else and get over it. If you don’t like it then get off my team, cause it’s my business.’”
FUNNY MONEY
What Bobick and others feared was that, “[The team is] paying for Jon to party on the weekends.” They are. Jonathan Nolan is using the money for his own gain.
An anonymous Corn Fed member came forward under the email address CFSwhistleblower. This person has access to the team’s bank accounts and forwarded the statements on to ORM. According to the statements, from July 2013 to January 2014, Nolan has been using the team’s card to fund his own lifestyle.
The card was used for the expected CFS purchases and payments. But, the bank statements show that Nolan has used the card for significantly beyond the expenses of shipping and handling for gear, invoices, and jersey orders. The card was used to support Nolan’s everyday expenses. It was used to pay for multiple nights in hotels, not coinciding with race weekends, a $96 trip to Babies-R-Us, and even items from Etsy.com- where Bobick, former fiancé of Nolan, confirms their wedding rings were purchased.
The statements also show Nolan paid his personal bills from here: monthly withdrawals from Comcast, Best Buy, the Indiana Michigan Power Company and transfers to external accounts. There are frequent purchases from Meijer (a department store), Kroger, and various gas stations. The card was used almost daily for lunches at Chipotle, Subway, McDonalds and Buffalo Wild Wings. There were several expensive restaurant bills footed by the Corn Fed Spartan team, a few large liquor purchases and a $136 outing to Bass Pros Shop. Back in August, there was a $149 purchase from 1-800-Flowers.
Bobick had a Corn Fed team card as well, and it is easy to follow which purchases were hers by the different card numbers. Her purchases were exclusively on team supplies at such places as USPS and Office Depot for wrapping and shipping off gear orders.
The statements go on in more detail for many pages. But, in total, from July to January, the bank account had an income of $45,502.68 and withdrawals or payments totaling $45,364.95, a difference of $137.73 left to the Corn Fed name.
Another blow to the morale of Corn Fed was the recent announcement that their upcoming event the Crucible, would be canceled. John Wikman, upon whose property the event was to take place, announced the cancelation on the Corn Fed Facebook page. But, upon questioning, Nolan stated the event was not being canceled, simply relocated pending agreement another location. According to members of the planning committee for the Crucible, this information was never shared with them. Currently, information about refunds to registered racers has not been released.
We reached out to Nolan with a list of questions similar to those we presented to others for clarification on the team’s finances. Unfortunately, we never received a response.
LEFTOVER LEGACY
The group has changed significantly in the last months with many of the core and original members now gone. People often post on the wall that the group is a family and families argue sometimes. But for those who have left, their reasons are bigger than the family bond professed by the team.
Bosley left for a number of reasons, but primarily, “The team lost its heart. The one thing that made us infallible was our ability to work as a group. Money, as a whole wasn’t as transparent as it needed to be, and when it became ‘transparent’ it was after the fact which just made it seem that much worse. I guess it all boils down to the fact that, while in no way a leader, the captain has values (or a lack thereof) that I wouldn’t associate myself with on my worst day.”
“Ultimately, I left for two reasons. 1) The board was in name only. We did not operate as a board. 2) Nolan cannot communicate,” said Nicole Winget.
Tim White was with the team from its early stages. He stayed with Corn Fed, but said, “I will never wear the Jersey again.”
Chad Weberg, who was an original member of Corn Fed has stepped back as well. “While I [have] lots of great, close friends in CFS I can no longer wear the colors at a race or in public because of the lies and misdirection from leadership.”
Missy Morris, also an original member, is no longer an active part of the team. “In the middle of November, myself, and a few others were unknowingly removed from our positions without a heads up or a reason… Throughout it all, I still tried to see the best in everyone involved, even though it was getting harder and hard to do that. Finally I just got sick of all the drama and decided to keep my distance.”
To McCormack, it’s time for CFS to have a change in leadership. “If leadership ever changes hands, and Corn Fed goes back to the way it was,” says McCormack, “then I’ll be more than happy to come back to Corn Fed. I know that at its center, Corn Fed is still Corn Fed. All this drama that’s going on is one group of people and these people are like cancer eating it from the inside. The core of Corn Fed is still there, you know. The hell with my time, I’ll help anybody over a wall.”
Kaitlin Stein
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No one likes to be lied to, especially when it comes to charitable giving. Shame on Mr Nolan. Any CFS member is welcome to join Team Chicago Spartan. We have over 1000 members, require NO dues, and proudly raise money for Make A Wish. We are equally as enthusiastic about OCRs, have a tremendous support group, get great team discounts, and have members all over the country. Perhaps the author should do a writeup on Chicago Spartans! Arooooooo!
We would also love to participate in an ORM article highlighting all that is right with teams in OCR. Racers need to realize this may reflect poorly on this particular team but does not represent what most teams in our sport are about.
Paul – Lone Star Spartans
AROO. Lone Star!
Paul – I LOVE Lone Star. I think it’s a top notch group you’ve got down there. I think CFS can learn a lot by modeling themselves after your group.
It should also be noted how Nolan distorted a partnership with Chicago Spartan. We were friends and working for the same goals when he knew we were about to launch our website, he bought the domain http://www.chicagospartan.com from under us and tried to sell it to us for a huge sum of money. When we refused he bought .net . Org .us and anything he could to block us. So now we are http://www.TeamChicagoSpartan.com
We are still a huge OCR group in the area but the fact that CFS looked down on us stalled our growth. And we raised and donated over $8000 to charity last year.
It’s sad to see this all come to light but glad it did.
Perhaps, someone should have an interview with Mr. Nolan’s girlfriend prior to Ms. Cande Bobick, that woman loved Jonathan very much… and what did he do in return, well he got ahold of her credit cards and ran a shitload of charges on them…. really wish she would of handed his ass over to the law. Yep, those credit cards paid for Nolan’s weekend excursions to Spartan Races, etc
##STOLEN CC’s##
I have read the comments on the Cornfed Facebook of everyone that has defended Nolan even when he has not spoke up to defend himself. I find it fraudulent and disgraceful on his part. The legal dictionary states that Fraud must be proved by showing that the defendant’s actions involved five separate elements: (1) a false statement of a material fact,(2) knowledge on the part of the defendant that the statement is untrue, (3) intent on the part of the defendant to deceive the alleged victim, (4) justifiable reliance by the alleged victim on the statement, and (5) injury to the alleged victim as a result. I wonder if all these people are going to keep defending Nolan’s actions or should I say inactions because they knew what he was doing all along or will they jump ship to save their own asses.
Not to mention Jonathon Nolan has a personal agenda to sleep with (what seems) every Female CornFed member….
Why Chicago Spartans would you come here and try and recruit? And blaming corn fed for your teams lack of growth? I’m sorry this seems a little childish and
Lack of growth may be due to the name ever think of that not everyone wants to claim a team that is center in chicago I wouldn’t
I don’t take it as them recruiting, I see it as offering a different avenue than the bs that has become cornfed. I hear people saying they’re going to “stick it out”, reminds me of someone in an abusive relationship. Sure they may be more than one person, but what they’re not realizing is that one person is the face of the team. So from here on out people are going to associate cornfed, at least somewhat, with scandal and greed. Simple removing him wouldn’t be enough. They need to start fresh; new colors, new name, new beginning.
“Oh, when it all, it all falls down
I’m telling you, ohh, it all falls down”
Don’t be all butt-hurt Chris. Chicago Spartans aren’t trying to recruit, just bringing to light some of Nolan’s past behavior. They aren’t saying anything about CFS members, only the team captain.
No one is “butt-hurt” im simply pointing that this team is going through enough right now and im sure the first thing they wanna see is oh hey chicago spartans are here to liberate you from the evil Mr.Nolan I think the web posting did that sufficiently enough without the childish “we lost our web page name” complaint so trivial with all that is already going on so allow me to be the first to say thank you chicago spartans thank you for giving us an avenue none of us wanted
I don’t see “we lost our web page name” as a childish complaint. To me it shows Nolan’s intent to make money from the beginning. To me it seems like he has always intended to create revenue for himself. Why would someone claim a domain name before the group could use it?
Registering a domain name that you know your partner wants, and then trying to sell it back to them at an extreme profit is a breach of trust, a violation of the partnership, and it certainly doesnt build goodwill and better friendships.
That wasn’t a trivial complaint, it was when a lot of people were shown the true nature of the CFS fearless leader.
Wow! OCR Week & MaryMary it just gets better & better with both of your information.
Hey Chris, all teams recruit new members, as does/did Corn Fed. At least no one on our team has used some of the less than cordial techniques that CFS has used. As someone who has been actively recruited by them for quite some time, I can speak with absolute certainty on that issue. I made no accusations of any kind against anyone other then Mr. Nolan. I have raced with CFS at plenty of events and have no issues with anyone there. Chicago Spartan is a great team. We travel well, we support our teammates at races, and as Paul said, we have raised plenty of money for charity. What Jonathan did to Paul was disgusting and absolutely true. Despite that, we welcome any and all who wish to be on the team, and have plenty of people who are in both.
If you want to “compare” size, go ahead. Really, its not an issue for us, and its not our teams main focus. But its quite obvious you need to refocus your anger on something else and rethink why you said what you did. Good luck racing. AROOO!
Wow, Great piece of writing by Kaitlin. Incredibly talented!
I’m a devoted member of this team. It saddens me to read this. Our team is not 1 man. What we do and what we stand for is much greater than the mistakes of one person. We help, motivate, and support each other any way we can. Lets not degrade this team because of 1 persons actions. I’ve helped Chicago Spartans, NE Spahtens, weeples and many other teams in the mud. Lets not forget the other 2000 plus members that represent what being Cornfed stands for.
Don: I like your sentiment, and agree with you comments; but unfortunately, that’s what a “leader” of any organization does – they set the tone for the whole group. This is why leadership, and selection of the right leader, is so very important.
When someone is no longer fit to lead, its up to the collective to make a change. Hence, “a board.”
I don’t understand how 2, 000 people don’t remove Nolan and host an open election for President and the board.
I hope Spartan Race looks into this and bans these corrupt individuals from the race trail. This stuff violates all that the Spartan Race is about.
There is no way for them to remove him – he has to go willingingly. He is the sole owner of the business name (LLC), and the facebook page.
It’s a frat in that group. Everyone on that board is his buddy so nothing will ever change, in their eye he has done no good and I am sure Nolan has bought several rows of drinks for them.
I would like to comment that MANY of the team members have also benefited from Mr. Nolan’s spending, including Ms. Bobick, who whole heartedly went to bat for Mr. Nolan until they broke up as a couple. No one seemed to mind while they were all getting free gear , races, hotels and even alcohol along the way. While I agree that this is not an above the board way to handle a team, it is very clear that some of the people seem to be protecting their own butts by coming out against Nolan.
Amy, yes, when Jon and I were a couple, I stood up for him. I believed in him and trusted him. Anyone in a relationship stands next to the one they love. I’ll have you know I did not receive any free gear, races or anything! Matter of fact, I paid for most of his gear last year. I paid full price for every jersey I purchased as well as his psycho jersey he still wears. Every road trip and hotel I paid for. He helped with fuel and may have paid for one hotel. I apologize for being unassuming and not demanding to see how he paid for this. Once again Amy, get your facts before you crucify the innocent. And I’ll have you know I refused an interview when I was still trying to get him to work with me for the sake of the team. I only agreed to talk when my vendor had gone 60 days no pay. That infuriated me that he was lying that a check had been sent and it was not. I will take the stand anytime because I have nothing to hide.
Amy S, It occurs to me that this is not a fair assumption. When I was dating my hub, I didn’t run to check what account my fiancee was using when he would buy dinner or gifts. I assumed good intent – as anyone would do when in love. Maybe that’s naive – but it’s honest.
Down here in Australia I have a website kinda like ORM that has a calendar and directory and reviews of all our events, a bit of news and info, a fun little league where people can earn points for every kilometre they travel in an obstacle race, and other such stuff. I spend time running and updating it, I retail the odd bit of merchandise on it, I sell advertising and I make money from it. I am also incredibly up front about this being a profitable venture for me. Some of the revenue goes to funding flights and car hire and accommodation at various races around our country which I can then write about.
“Despite being so mercenary I’m proud to say that my website and the audience that uses it has raised well over $4000 for Australian charities in the past 12 months, and we always help promote and donate to anyone who’s getting muddy as a fundraiser.”
Based on this,it would be impossible and a clear conflict of interests for me to be involved with a non-profit obstacle racing club, team or association. You can be a business or you can be a club, but you can’t be both.
There’s only a couple of clubs in Australia. Most of these are local affairs based around a town or city, some of which are official and some of which are casual. My website promotes them freely, but draws the line at acknowledging one association that is owned and controlled by an individual who has vested commercial interests in and around obstacle racing, even to the extent of running his own for-profit races!
If I ever wanted to become part of a club like Corn Fed Spartans (who incidentally contacted me six months back saying they were starting up a Corn Fed Spartans Australia group) the only way I could see this happening is if I shut down or offfloaded my own obstacle racing website.
Or maybe I could donate the website to a non-profit club and hand over all control and financials of it so that said club could profit from it and have a good starting point.
Early summer 2013: My wife, Kathy, left the team for her own reasons. She just couldn’t stay. She’d had enough. Upon finding out some damning information in CFS related to me and the company I support, I too, left later that summer. I chose not to disclose what I knew for the sake of the team. Better to fall on one’s sword and sacrifice than to bring down that which you hold dear. I then began to put my energies into building LegendBorne and taking care of my friends and family through the things that I do in LegendBorne – I race, I help others, I promote teams, I help build teams, I do the things I love with the people I care about. It was that ever-so-small corps of us that brainstormed the idea of racing “uniforms” and CFS was the test subject in their first iteration. We were proud of what we could accomplish. We set the mark high. Now, many have followed that lead and OCR has many teams out there.
It was as hard to read this story without wet eyes as it was to consider and effect my leaving of The Corn Fed Spartans. Even after I left the team, I demanded that some of my LegendBorne Ambassador gear have the CFS logo on it. I love the team and what we represent, no matter what race, event, gathering or article we show up in. Only two other organizations/groups can evoke that kind of emtion in me: My family and The United States Army. Always, in my heart, there will be The Corn Fed Spartans and its magnificent people. AROOO AROOO AROOO CORN FED!
You can’t judge CFS over one person and if you say different then, I can’t stand Chicago Spartans because of the tent deal at the super… Just an example CFS is a team either way you look at it. Just my two cents.
So, you hate an entire team because of a tent? Dude, you got issues. Take your registration fee and use it towards quality therapy. All you are doing is embarrassing the rest of us on the team. STFU.
I was using that as an example nice way to try attack me though, people that have low self estem will do that. And try not going anonymous that makes you look like a coward aswell wink! good try though but I’m giving you a 1.
An example of what? Get a clue, you are REALLY embarrassing yourself. BFD, they got a tent. No one cares but you. CFS had tens of thousands of dollars in the TEAM account that appears to have been used for personal use, and more money that was SUPPOSED to go to a CHARITY went missing. Now, stick your head out there and tell the OCR community how those two things are in any way “the same”. And please use proper grammar so that we have a better idea of what you are trying to say.
Whoa. I’ll defend Keith there. He wasn’t attacking Chicago Spartans. He was making an example. As in, if you (in the general) sense hate CFS due to one person, then I (again in the general sense) can hate Chicago Spartans due to the biggest team fiasco at the Midwest Super. I don’t think anybody is hating on Chicago Spartans, just hurting over Corn Fed. My $0.02.
I get it, but no one here is disparaging the members. Paul has a legitimate beef with Jon. No disputing that. He tried to get me with the promise of a free CFS jersey if I threw mine away last year. I just looked at him like he was an idiot. Apparently I was right. Hope theres only good vibes for all at the IN race and this gets resolved. More importantly, I hope every last dollar that was raised for the charity gets accounted for and forwarded to them. No child should be punished for this. Ever.
The tent deal at the super? Enlighten us. I was there, you guys still had a tent, did you not?
Why should I go into detail do you need the drama, but for you slower people I don’t care about the tent deal lol it’s kinda water over the bridge… I was just USING it as an example FFS smh you can’t judge a Team over one person, if this doesn’t sink in then I’m wasting my time obviously 🙂
Holy shit Kanye was there???
Yeah man. Sorry I missed you. But I was trying to let you finish, but for real though, I heard CS had the best tent of ALL TIME. And I got that damn rash, while crawling through the (barb)wire. But when it all falls down, it makes us all stronger.
Mr. Nolan combines teams to get the biggest.team for Indiana. So not sure why you are mad at CS.
If I remeber correctly at the Midwest Super Cfs got a tent Saturday anyways (even though they did not have the biggest team) and had the biggest team Sunday. Soo??? You are butt hurt why Keith??
And how can you hate a group of people that you know nothing about?? U do have some hate issues.. I’m sad for u.
Cornfed Spartans is not a community any longer. That changed the day Nolan registered it as an LLC and turned it into a personal, for profit organization.
The community that was Cornfed lives on though – in regional groups like Fire, Chicago Spartans, Midwest Vikings and further away – MudFunRun and New England Spahtens or the Weeple Army.
If you care about OCR, and want to run with like minded individuals, leave Nolans business behind, move to another group more to your tastes and get back to running in the mud, with a community of folks not making money off your backs without telling you.
Cornfed Spartans as a community has had it’s day, but OCR communities are strong, thriving and waiting to run with you.
I agree, time to put it down and start over. The thoughts will linger on about CFS from those on the outside and a few within. And then there are others who will do as they have, and still follow blindly while deflecting any blame to someone else.
There is constant chatter about rebuilding, and getting Cornfed back to what it was … which is sad. Cornfed can’t go back to what it was – not only is it a Nolan business, but like you say, anyone outside that community will now look at Cornfed with a taint … they seem to think they are the only team that helps people on course? Nope, not even close. They seem to feel they have a family feel? Thats hysterical right now.
If you care about OCR, rip the Cornfed bandaid off, go run with a group that isn’t associated with Nolan and his LLC – there are plenty of them – all as good or better than Cornfed.
I’m going to pimp my team. Join MidwestVikings.com
As an outsider, I get it that the whole CFS team does not want to be judged by one mans actions. As long as that man in leading your team or part of it…. Sorry, but you will be judged. If you really feel this way, nut up and lead your own team. Stop being a feeble minded follower and step up. Seeing as he owns everything Corn Fed…… He will always be Corn Fed. This story is one corn cob away from Waco! One trench coat and pair of white nikes away from heavens gate!
It’s crazy,drama filled and there are plot twists all along the way..when does the movie come out?!
Lol at being butt hurt, I was not even talking about the biggest team tent. I was talking about a Chicago spartan making 4 girls move thier tent because he didn’t wanna pull a stake out and just move it 1 foot. Team Chicago spartan I totally hear you and I’m not defending Jon, you gotta remember I bought flags jerseys shirts etc.. On both teams I’m not going to argue with you! Do yourself a favor aswell and rage on someone that gives a flying
Question – why is the registration still open for the Crucible when it has been cancelled? Is Nolan still taking peoples’ money?
Of course he is! How else would he pay for groceries, gas and alcohol? Hope the Corn Fed Sheeple wake up and stop funding his lifestyle. Nolan has b*lls to so flagrantly misappropriate CF funds…I’d bet Mr Tax Man will be catching up with him soon enough.
I’m just now getting caught up on all this drama. I feel like I’m back in high school. Everyone now knows that there are two sides of CFS. The ‘one team’ side and the guy who profits from creating it. Don’t like it..move on. Plenty of other great teams out there where the creator isn’t trying to live off of the members. There plenty of teams with open finances. CFS…I’ve seen you guys at events…You look like a great group of people. Nolan is making money on the group. There really isn’t anything wrong with that…as long as the members know. The problem seems to be the members didn’t know. Even worse…They may have been led to believe something different. And that sucks. And that lacks moral integrity…but still not illegal. Who is CFS? Nolan? The members? Now you know what is happening with your money. Nolan did nothing criminal. He created a brand and a CFS culture. 2000 people bought in. Would they have bought in if they knew the founder was paying his electric bill with money he made off the members? Don’t know. But now I know about Nolan. And he isn’t getting my money. There are so many other great ocr groups out there…why pay Nolan’s electric bill?
CFS can rebuild, once Mr. Nolan lets go of the llc. I personally doubt this will happen. If it does there are enough of the old school members left to rebuild what is a young team. I will support CFS to the end if Mr. Nolan removes himself. I”m posting this to remove the “can’t rebuild” from the equation. There are many teams in the history of sports that have had issues, many came back stronger.
All the other teams should be watching this very close as it unfolds. There will be many lessons to be learned in the rebuilding. These lessons will help other teams to grow to their full glory.
CORNFED AROO AROO
You know what all this bickering among teams sounds like? Religion!
OCR will never be taken seriously because of sewing circle crap like this.
It’s a black eye on those athletes who train their ASSES off to perform better and better with each race. It turns a potentially legitimate athletic sport, into a freakin’ cry-baby, sewing circle.
Why do people feel the need to “bond” into teams, only to end up just like immature high school brats playing social games of he said, she said, and he did, she did? Are you that lacking in companionship? Self-esteem that low?
For those on the outside it’s just comical …and a little sad, kinda like Jersey Shore.
Shut your mouths, step outside of your little b*tch fest, and take a good hard look at these growing situations in OCR.
Y’all aren’t tough. You’re a bunch of puffed-up pansies.
Back away from the keyboard and go train.
The article makes it seem like cfs had a monopoly on helping others during a race, as if they invented the concept. Respectfully, they don’t Jon manipulated people, likely talked a few into cheating on their spouses, and stole money that was supposed to go to a charitable cause. Anyone who is angry about this should report him to the IRS, as he has obviously misappropriated money.
If you decide to wear one of their jerseys at the next race, then you are endorsing him and his behavior. Its HIS product, not YOUR team. The team can exist outside of his business. By wearing the jersey you are simply letting him win. Put it on the shelf and find a new team, or simply don’t wear it. Send a message.
I would bet a years race fees that he comes out in the next few weeks with an apology tour, begging for forgiveness, all in an effort to keep his money rolling in. Don’t fall for his crocodile tears, people. He didn’t change his ways when confronted before, and now that he has been exposed, any apology should fall on deaf ears. And Joe D should publicly condemn this and make sure there are no tents for Jon at future races. Their relationship is/was much tighter then you think.
This is ridiculous and you are all drinking the tainted water. Is this ORM or TMZ? Next are we going to see baby pictures and DNA tests to find the daddy of a CFS lovechild??
If you know anything of Jonathan Nolan’s supposed character then I’m quite certain DNA tests and paternity suits are likely in the future.
Unfortunately there is no saving the CFS image. Those who still wear the gear you are just endorsing Mr. Nolans behavior and shame on you. Move on, and put Cfs outta it’s misery. Do yall really wanna be known now as Corn Fraud Nation? It’s embarrassing and as a former cfs i would be ashamed to be called or known as such.