Bright pinks, highlighter greens and a toilet seat-shaped hat were all part of the opening race of the Round Raro Road Race (RRRR) festival on Thursday.

The small reserve across the road from the Banana Court was transformed into a sea of speckled greens, pinks, blues, yellows and other loud colours as the light-hearted nature of the opening race was reflected in the outfits on show.

A bright-blue bunch of Flanders Island residents, running under the banner of the Flanders Flyers, were itching to get started.

Aligned with the Australian state of Tasmania, the group features three Davids – David Heap, David Green and David Williams.

Williams said entering RRRR was about enjoying themselves while getting active.

“We saw it and we liked the challenge of all the different events,” Williams said.

They are joined by Kathleen Ives-Heap and Dale Williams in the quintet.

A team of five women from Sydney, known as the Pink Pussycats, entered the race for the first time with an alterior motive to their quest for fitness.

“We wanted to get away from our families,” a laughing Sonia Rosenthal said.

The group, from the Step in to Life Sans Suci, is based in Botany Bay and ensured they looked the part as a quirky clowder of cats.

The three Japanese marathon runners certainly added some colour and intrigue to the event, most notably through Shin Takahashi’s preferred choice of headwear – an inflatable toilet complete with a souvenir.

Yasushi Kokubu, the 67-year-old who has the unique claim of running marathons on all seven continents, said choosing to run in Rarotonga was a relatively simple decision.

Wearing a pink robe that represents him being a member of the 100-marathon club in Japan, Kokubu said he had heard about Rarotonga and was keen to experience the unique race.

“It’s a very friendly island,” the swift sensei said.

Having run 560 marathons throughout his life, Saturday’s main race looks like it could be a stroll in the park for the veteran.

The same cannot be said, however, for a curious Kiwi named Mike Hanson.

With two half marathons from earlier this year under his belt, the butcher from Ashburton has brought his family to the rock as his helpers on the day to see if he can cross the finish line.

“Hopefully the kids and the family have more fun than me,” Hanson laughed.

Considering the Kiwi is not only looking to do the major race, but the Nutters Cross Island Run on Monday as well, it’s safe to say that the family would have to be doing it relatively tough to suffer more than Hanson is scheduled to.