Running, Track and Field discussion

I know we've debated as a group which person is the "greatest miler of all time". I pretty much agreed with those who thought Jim Ryun as his prime was the GOAT, but I don't know that any consensus was reached. However, that discussion got me to thinking about who might be the greatest "long distance runner of all time". There are a myriad of people who could contest for that one I would think. Leaving out Phidippides of ancient Greece, some of my suggestions would be:
-Paavo Nurmi of Finland, winner of 9 Gold and 3 Silver Medals in the Olympics between 1920 and 1928, also world record holder at distances from the 1500 to the 20 kilometer race;
-Emil Zátopek of Czechoslovakia, the only runner to win the 5000 meters, the 10,000 meters and the Marathon in the same Olympics (1952) as well as being a world record holder at distances from 5000 to 30,000 meters.
-Lasse Virén of Finland, winner of Gold Medals in the 5000 and 10,000 in both the 1972 and 1976 Olympics. Viren was also a world record holder for both the 5000 and 10,000 meters during his career.
-Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia, Gold medal winner in the 1996 and 2000 Olympics at 10,000 meters, also a World Record holder at distances from the 5000 meters to the Marathon.
There are a lot of other names I'm sure could be added to this discussion. I'm interested in what other members of the group think. One question I would pose, is the Olympic Medal or lately the World Championship Medal, the best way to measure who is the GOAT ? What about those athletes who missed the Olympics due to boycotts or injury?
Also, some athletes set World Records, but never won a Gold Medal, Ron Clarke of Great Britain comes to mind in this regard.
Then of course there are those fierce competitors such as Steve Prefontaine of the US and Rod Dixon of New Zealand, who weren't afraid to race anybody over just about any distance...

There is no one like Nurmi. And I love Viren and Gebrselassie for their dominance. Pre owned the cool factor. But for me, it has always been Zatopek and it his performance at the 1952 Olympics that separates him from everyone else.

This is a tough call.

Yet I agree with Ben and Steve. The accomplishments of Nurmi and Zatopek defy comprehension for those us who have run in competition. Whether these two icons of our sport would be as successful today, with improved running science and training techniques, is anyone's guess.

When I was growing up and competing in track, one of my heroes was (and remains) Steve Prefontaine. Pre was a tough, indomitable competitor, who stood maybe five feet five inches. He always looked like he was about to go into cardiac arrest when he raced. His typical rival was over six feet; Pre had to make nearly two strides for each single step of the greyhounds he faced. But Pre never relented, never stopped believing in himself. He outworked the competition because he had to compensate for the lack of physical attributes.

At age 24, Pre was tragically killed in a car accident. As we all know, most distance runners improve with age; Pre had not even reached his peak at the time of his death.

So, gentlemen, please add Steve Prefontaine to the short list of greatest distance runners.