From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englisha close run thinga close run thingBritish English a situation in which the people competing with each other are almost equal, so neither of them is more likely to win than the other The upcoming election looks likely to be a close run thing. → close
Examples from the Corpus
a close run thing• It was a close run thing.• Exciting Ormskirk made it two wins out of three but it was a close run thing against New Brighton. 