Fond du Lac’s Big Mac king, Don Gorske, is coming up on 50 years of burger-eating
FOND DU LAC — Fond du Lac’s Big Mac king, Don Gorske, is getting close to 50 years of daily burger eating.
Since March 17, 1972, he’s been eating two Big Mac burgers a day — with a Coca-Cola on the side — making it to just about 33,000 burgers in his lifetime.
He describes the Big Mac as the best thing ever. Everything about it, from the hamburger, cheese and pickles to the very special sauce, is delicious.
“As a child, my dad always took me to the McDonald’s in Green Bay,” Gorske said. “It was always special because getting alone time with him was seldom.”
Some may say you need a wellrounded diet to be able to eat two Big Macs a day, but for Gorske, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
He doesn’t eat breakfast, and his first meal of the day is at lunchtime.
Sometimes, he said, he’ll have a small bowl of fruit or vegetables, but that, too, is quite seldom. Instead, he stays active by “walking around the block” every day — though, in his case, that’s 6 miles.
He’s had six cholesterol checks done so far, the last one being in 2017, when his cholesterol was 165, he said.
“I would say three things contribute to my good health: One, I have inherited good genes, two is my hyperactivity burns up a lot of calories, and three God has blessed me with good health,” Gorske said.
His wife insisted she cook at least one meal a day, but that ended as soon as it started, he said. She supports his lifestyle, and said as long as he doesn’t get fat, she has no problem with his eating habits. His two-burger-a-day strategy has been a staple of his life for longer than the Big Mac has been a staple of the McDonald’s menu.
“Prior to May 1968, when the first Big Mac was served, my double burger consumption was limited to the Marc’s Big Boy,” Gorske said.
His whole life, Gorske has been obsessed with dates, numbers, math and counting, so from day one he’s been counting and saving everything as proof.
He vowed that the first day he got a car, he would drive to the nearest McDonald’s and buy his first Big Mac.
It was March 17, 1972, that his father sold him his 1966 Dodge Polara. The keys were in his hands by 10:45 a.m., and he was to the McDonald’s on Military Road, Fond du Lac, by 11 a.m.
That day, he ate his first nine Big Macs.
“The taste was like nothing else, I took that first bite and it was the best thing I have ever tasted in my life,” Gorske said.
From that day forward, he kept every receipt, every Big Mac container and swore that he would only eat Big Macs for the rest of his life.
To this day, Gorske goes to the McDonald’s on Military Road. On Mondays, he orders six Big Macs. Then, he goes again on Thursdays to order eight more, to hold him over until the following Monday.
He’s eaten a Big Mac in every major league football, baseball and NASCAR stadium. He has also eaten a Big Mac in all 50 states and some foreign countries.
He wouldn’t go a day without eating a Big Mac, until he had to.
“I have only gone eight days where I missed eating a Big Mac, one being the day my mother passed as she requested I do not eat a Big Mac on the day she died, in remembrance of her,” Gorske said.
In the last 10 years, he hasn’t missed a single day.
In that time, his Big Mac habit has caught the attention of the world. He’s been on a few shows — he appeared in the documentary “Super Size Me” and has appeared on “The Rachel Ray Show” and “Lopez Tonight” — and appeared in the Guinness World Records book in 2006 and 2017. Even last month, Gorske met with a photographer from the record-tracking organization at McDonald’s on Military Road. The purpose of the visit, outside of taking fresh footage of Gorske in his natural habitat, is unclear at this time.
“I will continue to eat Big Macs until the day I die, and I hope my wife writes how many Big Macs I ate in my lifetime so she can tell everybody ‘that’s how many Big Macs will kill you,’ ” Gorske said.
In Gorske’s eyes, nothing beats a Big Mac.