Questions: Are psionics alright? Does it have to be 3.5, or are suggestions for 3.0 alright? And I assume you mean to leave out magic/psionic items for now, since they're kind of a given.
Most likely, either way the answer basically includes at least 3 levels of Monk (possibly more), followed by 1 level of Barbarian.
A 3.0 solution will most definitely involve the rest (or nearly all the rest) of the levels going into Psychic Warrior (or a mix of Psychic Warrior and Psion) to gain numerous copies of the Speed of Thought psionic feat. See, in 3.0, you just need a higher power point reserve unspent in order to gain/benefit from multiple copies. So that's +10 feet of base movement speed per copy.... And Speed of Thought isn't an enhancement bonus (not in 3.0 anyway), so it stacks with any other speed improvements.
A gnome psion 2/psychic warrior 14/ex-monk 3/barbarian 1 can have 13 copies of Speed of Thought; +130 feet of speed, plus the fast movement of his monk/barb levels, so you'd have a gnome moving, what, 165 or 170 feet per round? About 330/340 with a double move or charge, or 660/680 with a run action? With the Burst psionic power (and it being 0-level in 3.0), you can add another +10 feet of base speed. Of course, replace just one of those feats with Run, and you squeeze out even more speed when running..... The first two levels, being psion levels, are just for power points pretty much; they're necessary to meet the reserve power point prerequisites for gaining multiple copies of Speed of Thought at low level.
This same gnome can have pretty good defenses. Ectoplasmic Armor, Inertial Barrier, Dimension Door, Improved Biofeedback, Claws of the Vampire (maim foes and heal simultaneously!), Displacement, etc. The Skate power, from psion levels, will boost your speed a bit more than Burst most of the time (and a lot more when moving down an incline), but, like Burst, it's an enhancement bonus (so not useful if you're wearing Boots of Striding & Springing or somesuch).
