Firefighting Jupiter grandmother proves age is just a number

WEST PALM BEACH — Scaling a rope and flipping a several-hundred-pound tire is no problem when you're Julie Dudley.

The Jupiter grandmother and 20-year firefighter EMT with Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue said she grew up always on the move by running and riding horses, and enjoys working out at her CrossFit gym. Her Instagram page, where she shares the fruits of her labor, has amassed a following of nearly 26,000.

But when recruiters for the NBC show "The Titan Games" reached out to her, she hesitated. Was she too old? Was she good enough?

"Do you have like an Old Titan (Games) for me?" she joked. Dudley turns 51 on Monday.

But with her family's encouragement, she flew out to California and was one of 64 athletes chosen for the show.

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"When I went up there, I said I want to have fun, I want to meet The Rock," she said, adding that she got to hug him twice. "I said I don't want to snap a hip."

The show, hosted by actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, pits athletes in three one-on-one battles. In the first round, called "Hammering Ram," Dudley competed against a 26-year-old sheet metal installer from Seattle. The challenge involved using a sledgehammer to smack a pin that would drop a 350-pound beam. Then, the beam must be swung until it breaks open fortress-style doors.

"Can your grandmother do that?" Johnson asks viewers after she wins the round.

Dudley said she believes she was bested in the second round because her competitor had a mixed martial arts background.

"It was a little surreal," she said of the show. "It was different, something I never could have pictured."

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Eagle-eye viewers, who can re-watch the episode on NBC.com, may notice that her competitor profile features West Palm Beach Fire Rescue, not Palm Beach Gardens Fire Rescue. That's because she said the department did not want to be involved.

On Monday, Palm Beach Gardens spokeswoman Candice Temple told The Palm Beach Post in an email: "The city of Palm Beach Gardens is keenly aware of its fiduciary responsibility to spend tax dollars wisely. The city does not consider spending taxpayer dollars on an employee’s hobby to be a legal use of those dollars. Apparently, those ideals are not shared by West Palm Beach Fire Rescue. As this employee stood to gain a cash prize for their participation in this program, we stand by our decision to spend tax dollars wisely and not for an employee’s personal gain."

"It was disappointing," Dudley said. "I really wanted my crew to be a part of it because they're my family."

But West Palm Beach Fire Rescue stepped up and offered her support, equipment and space to show off.

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"That's what we do, we help each other out," said Assistant Chief Brent Bloomfield. "We're one family."

Dudley said she'd do it all over again. It was an opportunity to show people that you don't need to be a certain age to be in shape. She proved it by being the second-oldest competitor; the average age was 29.5.

"Your age isn't an excuse, so don't use being 50 as an excuse," she said.

This story was updated Monday, Jan. 7 to include the city of Palm Beach Gardens' comment.

hmorse@pbpost.com

@mannahhorse