I'm doing a local race next Sunday, the "Keynsham Dandy" which is billed as 12 country miles. When I say local, the start and finish are within half a mile of my house so it seems rude not to. And it's limited to about 200 runners so it's not too crowded after the first couple pinch points.

I don't do many races not least of all due to the cost. My local cities, Bristol and Bath, both have huge half marathons but I think they are both over £60 to enter. The Bath half is the only city marathon I've actually done way back when it was fairly new, 1986 I think, and it was horribly crowded even then.