Terry Bork sets PR in 400mi RAAM Qualifier Race

Sports: Cycling

Age: 70+

Profession: Businessman

Location: Florida, USA

Race Experience

I am a lifelong athlete who started to compete in endurance cycling events at the age of 63, and continue to compete in endurance races and participate in charity rides. My current goal is to be the oldest person to complete Race Across America (RAAM) solo.

CORE Moment(s)

In July of 2017 I was introduced to CORE on the VeloSano 2-day, 200 mile charity ride where I was raising money for the Cleveland Clinic Foundation to cure cancer. Right after, I began working with CORE to plan race nutrition and practice the plan in training for the RAAM Ohio Cycling Qualifier (400 miles). CORE had most of the products I use, but the CORE team added some products for me (Subway Turkey sandwich and Ensure) that aren't so common in shorter races like marathons or Ironman but work well in races of 24 hours and longer. With the CORE nutrition plan in place, I avoided the mistakes of prior races and turned in a personal record of 26 hours and 17 minutes: two hours faster than my prior best 400 mile qualifier race… and in hotter weather and being a couple years older!

Even with the great improvements already, I know more is possible as I continue to practice race nutrition regularly. I had only weeks to practice my nutrition plan and achieved 70-80% of target carbohydrate intake; this was well above prior races, but there’s still more upside as I continue to train my gut along with my legs!

Before CORE (BC)

Before Core I knew the importance of nutrition and hydration but never had a real plan. Even with a plan implementation was difficult. The thought of consuming 10,000 calories over 24 hours on a bike can be quite daunting. The best comparison from before CORE to my personal best above was the Race Across the West (RAW) in 2013. It was my first multi-day race of 860 miles to be completed in 3 + days. I took in very little food and drink the first day, just like I would do on all my shorter training rides, and then the struggles began. I had unwittingly dug a hole that was hard to get out of. I was under my desired pace and ran out of time at the 700 mile mark 2 ½ days into the race. With the proper fueling I would have gotten the job done!