Runners: If the Bolder Boulder 10K wasn't hard enough for you, try doubling the altitude and tripling the distance.

And while you are at it, run a third of the race in the middle of the night.

That's exactly what nearly 1,300 people will be doing Aug. 3-4 in the Wild West Relay.

In its fourth year, the Wild West Relay is a 195-mile team road race from Fort Collins to Steamboat Springs, taking place over 22 to 34 hours. Each member of a 12-person team runs three 5¼-mile legs, while the others rest their legs in a van. There also are six-person "ultra teams."

"I like team running events where you can have that team sense of camaraderie," said Joyce Dickens, who will run the race for the first time this year.

Dickens is on one of the two 12-person teams who will be racing for a new Fort Collins nonprofit called The Matthews House, an organization that serves youths ages 16 to 21 who are aging out of the foster care and juvenile justice systems.

"We work to help them through that transition so they have at least someone in their life that is stable, someone who cares about them," said Dickens, who is resource development director for the nonprofit.

The youths often have little or no family support. The organization works with them for 6 to 12 months to help them find a stable place to live, secure a job and develop skills for independent living, such as budgeting and cooking.

"It seems that there is a really big gap for youth that are transitioning out of foster care," Dickens said.

With two teams of 12, the runners' goal is to raise $30,000 for the organization. They will hold an auction on eBay starting Monday and running through July 22.

But fundraising is only part of the preparation. How do you train for a race that will take you over two mountain passes of 10,000-plus feet?

"I think what you try to do is have enough fitness to get through it," said Gary Blackden, one of the team members and owner of GTS Therapeutics.

A cyclist, Blackden started out the year running in slow-motion after moving from the flatlands of Virginia to Fort Collins in January. Now, he has hired a running coach and has worked up to 6-minute miles.

"I've dropped three minutes per mile now that I'm adjusted," Blackden said. "It's a microwave workout. You can get in shape really fast."

The Wild West Relay route winds on dirt roads through Roosevelt, Medicine Bow, and Routt national forests.

The runners are getting together to do training runs at the crack of dawn Saturday.

Dickens said she is running four days a week - about 25 to 30 miles, with one hilly run and one long run building up to 15 miles.

"I am also making an effort to run at different times of day, so I will be ready for all temperatures," Dickens said.

For many of the experienced runners, the challenge will be the lack of sleep. There will be a full moon, which is a plus for running, but not for sleeping.

Teams travel in two vans. One carries the six runners whose race legs are coming up. The other can drive ahead and pull over for a couple of hours so the runners can throw out sleeping bags and try to nap, Dickens said.

Blackden said he's training for the sleepless night.

"I have a 3-year-old, and I have a new puppy."