Actually, in the Silver Age, Flash became so powerful that the writers didn't know what to do with him. They eventually killed him off with Crisis on Infinite Earths, and replaced him with a weaker version (Wally West, who had been Barry's sidekick, Kid Flash).
Barry was able to do just about anythying. He could vibrate his molecules to phase through just about any solid object (including walls). He could run faster than the speed of light, allowing him to travel through time and from universe to universe. He could superheat something with friction, which also gave him some power over force fields (if he couldn't vibrate through it, he could disrupt it by overloading its capacity or superheating the air). Basically, nothing could hold him, nothing could stop him, he had no weakness, and even if something went wrong, he could go back in time and fix it.
Wally doesn't have nearly Barry's powers, but he can do quite a bit. He can pummel someone into submission with punches too fast to block (and backed by super inertia). He can create minor whirlwinds (not like Barry's full-blown tornados, but still impressive). He can vibrate through solid objects (but not as well as Barry -- it tires him out). He can move faster than you can think. He can run across water and up walls.
If you want to talk about heroes with little power, go look at Marvel. Their heroes are much more down-to-earth. Flash could take down Spider-man in a heartbeat.
That's the thing... DC is about larger-than-life heroes (and Flash is far from the least of them). Marvel is about people with super powers and real problems.
Paul
