Figures to finish the race in a state of excitement (5)

I believe the answer is:

tense

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'state of excitement' is the definition.
Both the answer and definition are adjectives. Perhaps there's a link between them I don't understand?

'figures to finish the race' is the wordplay.
'figures' becomes 'tens' (ten is a number).
'to finish' indicates one should take the final letters.
The final letter of 'race' is 'e'.
'tens'+'e'='TENSE'

'in a' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for tense that I've seen before include "Charged" , "Verb form; uptight" , "Stressful" , "Drawn" , "Rigid, or grammatical time" .)

I've seen this clue in the Evening Standard.

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