In the argument for greatest of all time one must consider overall performance in terms of both competition against others and against the clock. Here I have tried to encapsulate both areas in measuring the GOAT.
The process is as follows:
For each event 1500-Marathon (1500, 3000, 5000, 10000, 1/2 marathon, marathon) a runner earns 1 point per position in all-time athletics list. Then performances in World Championships (XC and track) and Olympics, as well as world marathon majors, are figured in by subtracting 30 points for first place, 20 for second, and 10 for third.
The winner, as in golf is the athlete with the fewest points.
Kenenisa Bekele:
1500: 3:32.35/ 557 points
3000: 7:25.79/ 8 points
5000: 12:37.35/ 1 point
10000: 26:17.53/ 1 point
1/2 marathon: 60:09/ 328 points
marathon: 2:05:03/ 47 points
20 world championship/olympic golds/ -600 points
2 silvers/ -40 points
1 bronze/ -10 points
Total: 292 points
Haile Gebrsellassie:
1500: 3:31.76/ 373 points
3000: 7:25.09/ 4 points
5000: 12:39.36/ 2 points
10000: 26:22.75/ 3 points
1/2 marathon: 58:55/ 13 points
marathon: 2:03:59/ 10 points
10 gold/ -300 points
2 silver/ -40 points
1 bronze/ -10 points
WMM: 4 wins, 1 3rd place/ -130 points
Total: -75 points
Mo Farah:
1500: 3:28.81/ 28 points
3000: 7:27.35*converted from 8:03 2-mile/ 18 points
5000: 12:53.11/ 64 points
10000: 26:46.57/ 28 points
1/2 marathon: 60:00/ 253 points
marathon: 2:08:21/ 782 points
5 gold/ -150 points
1 silver/ -20 points
Total: 1,003 points
This ranking system puts Geb in 1st place because of his performance over all of the distances giving him low scores in all events. Bekele takes a hit on the 1500 and the 1/2 marathon because he has only ran it once. He redeems himself because of the staggering number of world golds he has. Farah does well until the marathon where he falls off dramatically.
As of now, the GOAT is Geb.