Practically every DC Comics icon to operate as the Flash has, at one point or another, been considered the Fastest Man Alive. From Jay Garrick to Bart Allen, the Scarlet Speedsters have continued to run a never-ending race in pursuit of justice.

But two Flashes in particular – Barry Allen and Wally West – have set the pace for every Flash before or since. And the two Fastest Men Alive have run some of the most incredible races in all of DC Comics’ extensive history, proving that the Flash Family has some of the most exciting stories and comics in DC history.

10 Barry Allen’s Final Race

Crisis on Infinite Earths #8 by Marv Wolfman, George Pérez, Jerry Ordway, Anthony Tollin, and John Costanza

While not technically a race in the strictest sense, The Flash’s ultimate sacrifice to save all reality from the Anti-Moniter in the pages Crisis on Infinite Earths was long considered Barry Allen’s “final race” and to this day is seen as his ultimate accomplishment by many Flash fans. With all that remains of the Multiverse teetering on the brink, an imprisoned Barry Allen manages to escape his confines to destroy the Anti-Monior’s ultimate weapon – an Anti-Matter Cannon.

Circling the Cannon’s energy source at unimaginable speeds, the Flash literally runs himself to death as he redirects the weapon’s energy back unto itself and causes its ultimate destruction. Barry Allen remained “dead” for decades after this seemingly last race, and though he’s long-since returned, the Crimson Comet’s sacrifice will always be one of his greatest races.

9 The Flash vs. Züm

JLA #3 by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, John Dell, Pat Garrahy, and Ken Lopez

Martian Manhunter is one of the Justice League’s most powerful champions, and his White Martian kinsmen share many of these incredible abilities, which rival Superman's own powers. One such ability is superspeed, as demonstrated by the inhuman speedster Züm when he pits his considerable velocity against Wally West's Flash.

Circling the globe countless times before the average person can even blink, both the Flash and Züm begin moving at near-light speeds before West pulls ahead and laps his opponent in order to deliver an Infinite Mass Punch that sends the White Martian clear across the continental United States. One of the most famous examples of Flash’s Infinite Mass Punch, this race is iconic for a reason and even remains one of Wally West’s most impressive feats years later.

8 The Flash vs. Quicksilver

JLA / Avengers by Kurt Busiek, George Pérez, and Tom Smith

While each Flash has been described as DC Comics’ Fastest Man Alive, the Scarlet Speedsters have gone up against their share of opponents from other universes – including Marvel Comics’ Quicksilver. When the machinations of a rogue Oan breaches the divide between the Marvel and DC Universes, the Justice League and the Avengers are pitted against one another in a misguided contest of champions across both teams’ respective Earths.

Naturally, Quicksilver and the Flash are immediate rivals, with Wally falling behind Pietro on Earth-616 as the Flash is cut off from his connection to the Speed Force. But when these fleet-footed foes run into each other yet again on the Flash’s home turf, Wally leaves the Avengers' resident speedster in the dust and reminds Avengers readers why DC’s Flash is considered the Fastest Man Alive.

7 The Flash vs. Superman

The Flash: Rebirth #3 by Geoff Johns, Ethan Van Sciver, Brian Miller, and Rob Leigh

The Man of Steel is one of DC Comics’ most powerful heroes, and one of the fastest to boot, but he’s not exactly on the same level as the Flash Family. When a newly resurrected Barry Allen seeks to return to the Speed Force, Superman and the other Justice Leaguers try to stop him, with only Clark being able to temporarily keep pace.

The Flash is fast enough to catch bullets in his sleep.

Having raced Barry more than once for charitable causes, and even having won a couple of times, Superman mistakenly believes that the Flash can’t outrun and says as much – right before Barry moves fast enough to break the dimensional plane and leaves Clark behind with no chance of catching up. Superman may be faster than a speeding bullet, but the Flash is fast enough to catch bullets in his sleep.

6 Wally West’s Flash vs. Eobard Thawne’s Reverse Flash

The Flash #79 by Mark Waid, Greg LaRocque, Roy Richardson, Gina Going-Raney, and Timothy Harkins

Known as both Professor Zoom and the Reverse Flash, Eobard Thawne was always Barry Allen’s greatest rival and the only one capable of matching the Scarlet Speedster step for step. And when an unbalanced Thawne masquerades as his greatest rival in the story “The Return of Barry Allen,” from Mark Waid's legendary run on The Flash, he gets the chance to test his speed against the former Kid Flash - with results he didn’t expect.

Up until this point, Wally hadn’t allowed himself to achieve speeds suring those of his mentor for fear of replacing him, but upon realizing that it would be either him or Thawne, Wally begins to run circles around Professor Zoom – humiliating his rival to the point that he returns to the future from whence he came. During this conflict, Wally West truly became the Flash, and he’s largely held onto that Fastest Man Alive moniker ever since.

5 Barry Allen vs. Marvel Comics’ Fastest Characters

Quasar #17 by Mark Gruenwald, Mike Manley, Paul Becton, and Janice Chiang

Following Barry Allen’s “death” in Crisis on Infinite Earths #8, nobody expected Barry to appear again, especially not in a Marvel Comic, but that’s just where he pops back up. In this story, the Runner, an Elder of the Universe, organizes an intergalactic race including Quicksilver, Speed Demon, Makarri of the Eternals, and more.

The race is tight, up until an amnesiac blond figure garbed in tattered red and gold and thinking himself named “Buried Alien” materializes on the track in a bolt of lightning and almost instantly outpaces Marvel’s fastest beings without breaking a sweat. The mysterious victor is spirited away by the Runner and reappears many issues later, still looking for a way home. Though this story may not be strictly in DC continuity, it’s clear that Buried Alien was at least meant to be a Barry Allen homage – making the Flash the fastest hero in two universes.

4 The Flashes vs. the Black Racer

Final Crisis by Grant Morrison, J.G. Jones, Doug Mahnke, and more

In the DC Universe, death takes many forms, with the Black Racer of the New Gods being one of its most common. Despite being one of the fastest beings in existence, both Barry and Wally have outpaced the Racer on a couple of occasions, but their race against the Fourth World’s Grim Reaper in Final Crisis is without equal. When Barry Allen first reappears from the Speed Force with the Racer on his tail, he is ed by Jay Garrick and Wally West in his race before the original Crimson Comet is forced to bail out.

Unfortunately, the Flashes are unable to keep the Racer from taking Orion of New Genesis – the impetus behind their race – but they are able to lead him to a mortally wounded Darkseid and help save the entirety of existence. The Flashes may have made something of a habit out of outrunning death, but the Lord of Apokolips couldn’t keep up.

3 Wally West and Barry Allen’s Flash War

The Flash #49 by Joshua Williamson, Howard Porter, HiFi Design, and Steve Wands

Since Wally’s ascension from Kid Flash to Flash proper, there was always a part of him that questioned whether he was truly the Fastest Man Alive, or if Barry Allen still held that title. After Wally is manipulated by his old enemy Zoom into attempting to breach and destroy the Speed Force, Barry sets out to stop him, with the resulting race between the two threatening to destroy the Multiverse.

This Earth-shattering race remains a definitive answer to anyone wondering which Flash is truly the Fastest Man Alive.

The Scarlet Speedsters’ velocity is such that Superman himself has to catch his breath after failing to even get close to them, with Wally ultimately coming out on top, as Barry its that he can’t keep up with with his former protegé. Ultimately, the former partners put their differences aside to stop Zoom’s plot, but this Earth-shattering race remains a definitive answer to anyone wondering which Flash is truly the Fastest Man Alive.

2 The Flash Family vs. the Batman Who Laughs

Dark Nights: Death Metal – Speed Metal #1 by Joshua Williamson, Eddy Barrows, Eber Ferreira, Adriano Lucas, and Steve Wands

When a Doctor-Manhattan-powered Batman Who Laughs brings the Multiverse to near-ruin, it’s up to the Flashes to get the Mobius Chair to Wonder Woman and the Justice League in order to stop him. Running not just against a mad god, but an army of Dark Flashes as well, Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, Wally West, and Ace West run a more desperate race than they ever have before - both away from and through Batmanhattan and his undead forces as the Speed Force begins to shatter around them.

One by one, the Flashes fall behind until only Wally, boosted by Barry’s speed for one last push, remains to reach the Mobius Chair and reunite with the rest of the Flash Family inside the Speed Force for a moment of reprieve. Essentially a repeat of Wally and Barry’s Flash War on a multiversal scale, Speed Metal reminds readers that the heroes of the Flash Family are all the Fastest Men Alive.

1 The Flash vs. Instant Teleportation

The Flash #138 by Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, Ron Wagner, John Nyberg, Tom McCraw, and Gaspar Saladino

When a godlike race of cosmic gamblers forces the Flash to race an alien champion across existence for the survival of Earth, Wally West turns the tables on his captors, challenging them to a race from their location in the Fourth Dimension back to Keystone City. Gifted with instantaneous teleportation, one of the Gamblers accepts, igniting the race with but a thought as Wally kicks into gear – but he doesn’t run alone. Having received the Flash’s message, the entire population of Earth, including the rest of the Flash Family and the JLA, all set out to race alongside the Flash, allowing Wally to draw upon their speed across time and space.

This extra boost, along with the added speed of Wally’s radio-wave powered competitor Krakkl, brings the Flash home with enough time to dial every radio station on Earth to the frequency of Krakkl’s people and bring them safely to Earth as well, long before the Gambler’s supposed instant teleportation is completed. Not only does this race prove Wally West to be the undeniable Fastest Man Alive, but it also goes to show that DC Comics’ third Flash is quite possibly the fastest being in existence.