Last week, I wrote about Kerren Fraser, the woman who discovered an inner strength she didn't know she had, thanks to her experience training with the Women's PACE group to run the Victoria 10K race last May.

Recently I met some of the other women from that group and found that they each got much more than they expected from the experience.

Allison Thompson - "I started running because I just had a baby eight months ago and I figured if I could endure 22 hours of labour pain, I could run a marathon. But along the way, I found an inner strength that allowed me to push myself to the limit like I've never been able to do before and that inner strength has spread to the rest of my life."

Gerry Samson - Gerry has been dissatisfied with her job for years but never had the courage to quit. This running experience gave her the confidence she needed to quit her job and start her own house cleaning and meal preparation business.

Marilyn Assaf - "When we started in January, I could barely run thirty seconds and each of these women, in their own way, have inspired me, motivated me and encouraged me to keep going."

April Corbett - "When we come together, we are so powerful ... and that power is as palpable as a water bottle ... Most of us couldn't affirm ourselves in the beginning but we could affirm each other ... Through this experience we've all found a way to fill our own cup ... If you surround yourself with people who are constantly giving you good press, after a while, you start to believe it ... We all tell ourselves things that aren't true, I did that too, but now I've discovered that I'm not a quitter and I am an athletic person."

Amy "Bodacious" Collum - "What I ended up with was a group of girlfriends, something I was missing because I was too busy. So I ended up with a group of friends who listen in a positive, supportive manner ...and a lot more energy.

Deb Young - I joined because I wanted to lose weight but it wasn't the running that kept me coming back, it was the people ... As a group, we are so close, accepting and genuinely nice to each other ... When someone tells me I'm doing a good job, I believe them and I keep going." By the way, Deb has lost 39 pounds since December.

I met Kerren Fraser, the woman I wrote about last week, and these six women for a quick coffee and chat after one of their runs, a quick chat that turned into ninety minute, inspirational boost to my day. It felt great to be invited to enter that mutually supportive, positive energy bubble these women generate when they get together.

For instance, when I asked Gerry to describe her new business, she said it was just her own little house cleaning business ... Wow! You should have seen the six other women jump all over her.

"No. You should be proud," they said almost in unison. "You're in control of your life now and you're doing great. It's not just a little house cleaning business, it's your business." Gerry got the point.

As we were preparing to leave, all of the women wanted to make sure that I understood what a pivotal role Donna Spencer played in their success.

"From the beginning, she just assumed we could all do it," one of them told me, "and her e-mails are just amazingly inspirational." They all nodded in agreement.