Donna Simmons doesn’t carry a purse. She prefers a gym bag. Its contents supply all the essentials for a seasoned runner: sneakers, 100 calorie snacks, and even a few Women’s Health magazines for motivation.

Simmons never lets a day go by without exercise. Last year alone, the the 43-year-old Onset resident ran 33 races. Now she is gearing up for her biggest race yet: the Boston Marathon. But it hasn’t always been this way for Simmons.

In 2005 Simmons weighed 245 pounds. After a visit to the doctor, Simmons learned that years of inactivity and poor eating habits had led to high blood pressure.

“They wanted to put me on medicine, and I thought: 'No!' I knew I needed a change,” Simmons said.

The doctors gave Simmons six months to lower her blood pressure through healthy lifestyle changes before she was put on medicine.

“I immediately changed my diet and started to exercise,” she explained.

By 2006 she was down to 170 pounds. She had committed to a nutritious diet and daily exercise plan. Then she was ready for her next challenge.

“I had been interested in running,” she said. So she started in March of 2006.

“I could not even make it 5 minutes. My first run was 2 minutes and 30 seconds,” she recalled.

She stuck with it and began logging her progress. “When I left the house, I told myself 'I am going out for 30 minutes. If 2 minutes is all I can run and 28 minutes is a walk, that's what it is,'” she recalled.

Once Simmons could run for 20 minutes, she raised the bar for herself again. She signed up for her first race, the Gleason Family YMCA 5K on May 7, 2007.

“When race day came I was so nervous,” she recalled. “I spoke with some runners and I got some advice from a lady in the bathroom line. She said, ‘pace yourself, don't worry about anyone else. Go out slow and pace yourself.’ So I listened. I ran the whole race.”

Four years and 12 pairs of sneakers later, Simmons is no longer at risk for high blood pressure and is ready to take on the 26.2 mile Boston Marathon.

Simmons is residential counselor at Community Systems Inc., a center for adults with special needs, where she cares for deaf and blind adults. In honor of the people she cares for at work, Simmons is running the Boston Marathon to support the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. Her goal is to raise $3,250 for the school.

Simmons said running for a good cause keeps her motivated, though she admitted she stills struggles to get going on occasion.

“It’s a daily thing,” she said. “Every day I have to figure out ways to motivate myself. If it is important enough to you, you will find a way. If it is not, you will find an excuse.”

Simmons works 40 to 50 hours per week in addition to being a full time wife and mother. Along with logging her her daily exercise and food intake, Simmons stays on track by writing down inspirational quotes. She also shares them on her Facebook page to encourage her friends.

Perhaps her biggest source of motivation is the change she has seen in her own family. Since Simmons embarked on her weight loss journey, her son, Joshua, and her husband, Moe, have dropped a few pounds and become more active.

“I was sitting and eating, and Josh was sitting and playing video games,” she said, reflecting on their old habits. “Now he wakes my husband up at 5:30 a.m. to go to the gym!”

Joshua, 17, is an avid football player now that he has lost 40 pounds, earning him the nickname “Slimmons".

Simmons' biggest tip? “Keeping track of everything ... and education,” she said. Simmons keeps her routine fresh by complementing her runs with weight training and classes at the YMCA. She has taken nutrition classes and recently joined Weight Watchers in hopes of losing 20 more pounds.

Simmons said she’d eventually like to become a weight loss advisor for Weight Watchers to continue to share her message of healthy living with others.

Simmons has raised $2,125 for the Perkins School for the Blind so far. If you’d like to help Simmons in her fundraising efforts, click here to donate.