FOND DU LAC (NBC 26) — Imagine eating more than 34,000 McDonald’s Big Macs! Well, Don Gorske of Fond du Lac can’t imagine eating anything else.
- Fond du Lac man has eaten 34,100 Big Macs breaking Guinness World Record.
- It all started when he first learned to drive in 1972 and he took his first drive to a local McDonald's.
- "It's a part of his life, but mostly I like him because he's a good guy. I'm glad I married him," said Gorske's wife, Mary.
“If I don't eat a Big Mac, what am I gonna eat?” Gorske said. “You know, that's really a dilemma for me because I don't want to eat nothing besides hamburger, you know?”
Gorske extended his Guinness World Record for most Big Mac burgers eaten in a lifetime after consuming 728 Big Macs in 2023. Don’s record if now more than 34,100 Big Macs.
"Being obsessive compulsive like I am, I've just stayed in my same old routine all the time,” Gorske said.
It all started when he first learned to drive in 1972. His first trip was to a local McDonald's.
"Can you tell me again what the significance of this spot where we're sitting right now is?" I asked him in the McDonald's on Military Road in Fond du Lac.
"This used to be parking spot three... this was where I ate my first Big Mac,” Gorske said.
He says his first Big Mac turned into nine on the very same day!
The rest is history, for him, his wife and McDonald's. In 1975, he asked his wife Mary to marry him in the very same spot where he had his first Big Mac.
“I married a gal who didn't really care to cook, and so she was fine with me eating my Big Macs every day, as long as I promised never to blame her for not cooking,” Gorske said. “Our marriage works out really good."
Mary Gorske said she doesn’t really eat Big Macs, but appreciates her husband's love for the burger.
"It's a part of his life,” Mary Gorske said. “But mostly I like him because he's a good guy. I'm glad I married him."
Don Gorske tells me typically he has two big macs a day, and he’s consistently in good health.
"I think 10 times I've had blood tests done to see about my cholesterol and stuff, and every time my cholesterol is so low,” Gorske said. “One time a nurse told me, she says, ‘your cholesterol is so low, you should really do something about it.’ So I said, ‘you want me to eat three Big Macs every day?’”
What started out as just a love of Big Macs soon turned into a hobby.
He keeps track of his Big Macs with a calendar, and collects photos and memorabilia from the burgers he’s eaten.
“I've eaten a Big Mac at every NFL stadium, I've eaten a Big Mac at every major league stadium; and I’ve eaten a Big Mac and every NASCAR track; and then at McDonald's in the 48 states,” Gorske said.
Gorske has more than 13,000 Big Mac containers stored in his basement, and thousands more in his attic to keep track.
For this most recent record extension, Gorske even got a shoutout form late night host Seth Meyers.
"A man in Wisconsin recently extended his Guinness World Record after eating 728 McDonald's Big Macs in 2023. The record was for healthiest man in Wisconsin," Meyers said.
I asked Gorske if he has a message for Meyers.
“I’m not offended by that. I think it’s great that he recognized that, ‘hey this guy’s really different and he’s pretty cool in a way,” Gorske said.
The 70-year-old has held his record since 1999, and said has no plans of slowing down.
“For anybody to live seventy years on a diet like mine is amazing,” Gorske said. “So, if I live longer than that, great. When I go, I go.”
Don plans to have eaten 35,000 Big Macs by next March, and more after that.
