There's also the idea of a race going 'down to the wire'. The wire in question is presumably something like the finishing tape that is sometimes used in foot races. But even, say, a Presidential Election can 'go down to the wire'.
Another, is 'it's anybody's race' - but that's more often used in predictions.
b
PS Another one is to say that two competitors are 'neck-and-neck'; I imagine that term comes from horse racing (as a horse can still win a race 'by a neck'). But, although a human runner's neck doesn't stick out (the leading part is the chest, from which we get the expression 'to breast the tape' [=finish first]), it is still accepteble to say that two runners are neck-and-neck.