Semi-perfect cell wrote:
Best 1500m - 5000m runners of all time by top performances (time only) and averaging IAAF scoring tables scores.
1. Daniel Komen 12:39.74, 7:20.67, 3:29.46 avg(1278.7)
2. Hicham el Guerrouj 12:50.24, 7:23.09, 3:26.00 avg (1278.3)
----huge gap----
3. Jakob Ingerbritsen 12:48.45, 7:27.05, 3:28.32 avg(1259.7)
4. Haile Gebrsellasie 12:39.36, 7:25.09, 3:31.76 avg(1258.7)
5. Bernard Lagat 12:53.60, 7:29.00, 3:26.34 avg(1258.3)
6. Kenenisa Bekele 12:37.35, 7:25.79, 3:32.35 avg(1257.0)
---another big gap----
7. Selemon Barega 12:43.02, 7:26.01, 3:32.97 avg(1247.0)
8. Yomif Kejelcha 12:46.79, 7:28.00, 3:31.25 avg(1246.0)
9. Mo Farah 12:53.11, 7:32.62, 3:28.81 avg(1239.7)
10. Eliud Kipchoge 12:46.53, 7:27.66, 3:33.20 avg (1237.7)
11. Said Aouita 12:58.35, 7:29.45, 3:29.46 avg (1237)
---possibly other runners up there---
? Joshua Cheptegei 12:35.36, 7:33.24, 3:37.82 avg(1219.0)
This is based solely on top times for 1500m, 3000m, and 5000m. If it were based on the best competitive resume plus times I think Mo Farah would likely win or possibly El G. Also Cheptegei may very well break into the elite part of this group soon. He had an off year when he ran that 1500m and 3000m. I expect him to run low 3:30s and low 7:20s soon. Also Aouita and Geb should get special props for how much they each pushed the sport forward to these otherworldly levels they get credit for the biggest influencers in the sport.