Port Douglas triathlete Nick Carling is one excited man.

Carling was one of the 1500 athletes world-wide to obtain general entry into one of the most in-demand ironman events in the world, the Ironman Asia Pacific Championships in Melbourne, to be held March 25, 2012.

Despite the $820 registration fee, the 1500 places sold out in less than 10 minutes on Sunday, with Carling hot on the computer mouse to obtain online entry.

Athletes will event will compete for a professional prize purse of USD$100,000 and 75 age group qualifying slots to the 2012 Ironman World Championship, more than any other race in the Asia-Pacific region.

It is the first-ever ironman triathlon competition to be held in the Melbourne metropolitan area, the course featuring a 3.8 kilometre swim in Frankston, a 180 kilometre bike ride on the EastLink Tollway and a 42.2 kilometre run along Port Philip Bay towards the finish line at the St Kilda Baths.

“Being the first ironman in Melbourne and with 1500 general spots snapped up in 10 minutes with people all over the world trying to get a spot, I'm very lucky to get one,” Carling said.

“It's going to be a massive event, especially with it being in a capital city, and it is the same distance as the Challenge Cairns course which I am excited about.”

The Ironman Asia Pacific Championship Melbourne will be one of three regional championship events and joins the Ironman US Championship in New York and the Ironman European Championship in Frankfurt as Ironman's premier qualifying events.

In the lead-up to the Melbourne ironman, Carling has his sights set on the Ironman 70.3 to be held in Canberra on Sunday, December 11, an event he is currently in training for.

The Canberra event takes in 1.9km a lake swim on Lake Burley Griffin, a 90km bike ride around the nation’s major iconic buildings and landmarks, and a run through downtown through Canberra’s parklands and CBD.