Having three winners in one race might seem strange, but that's exactly what happened when a Wareham Middle School student group traveled to a 5k in Taunton last week.

Middle School teacher Nichole Stahmer, along with students Nikolas Daher and Lukas Watkins, each won their age group at the Jolly Jaunt 5k race on Dec. 6.

Stahmer is the leader of the Physical Education Student Leaders, a group of 40 students who run together after school and try to develop healthy lifestyles.

"The all-around purpose of the group is to promote positive choices," Stahmer said.

She said currently, the group is focusing on coping skills and the ways exercise can flush away negative emotions.

"I've never met anyone who is a jerk at any of the 5ks I've ever been to," Stahmer said.

This is her third year leading the group, which meets Tuesdays and Thursdays to run. She said the group will do a local charity 5k once a month and will usually get a handful of students to participate.

Taunton is probably the farthest they would go, according to Stahmer, but since the race benefited the Special Olympics, she felt it was for a good cause.

In a race with 192 finishers, Stahmer ran 27:11 to finish first in the 40-44 age group. Lukas Watkins ran 33:34 to finish first in the 12 to 14 age group, and Nikolas Daher ran 33:52 to finish first in the 11-and-under group.

For winning their respective age groups, Stahmer, Daher and Watkins each won a pair of new Bose headphones.

The group will host a 5k of its own on Sunday, March 22.

Stahmer said anything she does with the students comes out of the parents pockets, so she's looking for ways to fund the group without having everyone pay. She's looking for sponsors for the event.

"We're just a group of do-gooders," Stahmer said.