Originally posted by Enzeru
1. Flash ... obvious choice for the first place.
2. Superman ... obvious choice for the second place.
3. Gladiator ... I have Gladiator above Wonder Woman, because he has thrown punches in nano-seconds and one would assume that he is capable of putting one foot in front of the other equally fast. I don't remember an instance where it was stated that Wonder Woman operates in nano-seconds. But it has been stated that Superman would beat her in races (although not in combat speed).
4. Wonder Woman ... her placement is explained in greater detail above.
5. Quicksilver ... Quicksilver is a speedster, who makes good use of his super speed and one would assume that he should be faster than Gladiator on foot, but Quicksilver's speed is still much more toned down compared to Superman-level characters / archetypes. He might have high end showings, which would put him above Gladiator, but I would still not be buying it.
6. HP Doomsday ... he should be rated higher by default, because DC speedsters have complimented his speed and he was always keeping up with Superman, but for me personally that was still one of those comic book excuses for a character without any real established super speed managing to tag faster characters. Just like the Hulk for example. Doomsday simply doesn't strike me as a fast character, but if it has to be done, he does it.
7. Silver Surfer ... I think that a big part of Silver Surfer's speed comes from his board. He is always the fastest in terms of traveling, when he is on his board. Actual super speed might be a part of his power set, but it is so vague and unestablished, that it's not worth being mentioned and therefore he falls short.
8. Hulk
9. Thanos
10. Thor
The last three spots are all actually about the weight. The reason why Hulk leaps, is because in theory he is faster than the gravity allows him to be.
When a character like Hulk reaches a certain degree of speed, he starts losing traction with the ground and he is forced to jump:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzceykTiwjs
You can see it in that video, where Hulk struggles a little bit with the running in the beginning and starts leaping. Cars for example are designed in a very specific way, when they get to higher speeds. Their design is often based on keeping them on the ground, otherwise they would take off and fall over.
The Bugatti Veyron is such a car:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/79/Bugatti_Veyron_Wimille_-_versione_speciale.jpg
The reason why I have Hulk above Thanos and Thanos above Thor is their weight.
Let's say that they all have enough strength to get past a very specific speed, they would start losing traction and control over their running. They would be forced to jump, which should disqualify them in this competition, or at least force them to slow down again.
With Hulk being heavier than Thanos, he will have more traction and maintain a greater speed longer and the same applies for Thanos, who is heavier than Thor.
Now the question is if the same shouldn't apply to the other characters, but with them having super speed as an actual part of their power set, one would assume that for them there are specific rules (excuses), which somewhat defy the laws of gravity and physics and logic and so on, because derp derp.
Thanks for the explanations and insights. I agree with your reasoning^^.
