At the Berlin Marathon Sept. 25, up at the front of the pack, six paid mercenaries set a blistering tempo for much of the race. At about the 20-mile mark, the last of them peeled away, ceding the stage to the actual competitors. Kenya's Patrick Makau proceeded to smash the men's world record by completing the course in 2 hours, 3 minutes and 38 seconds.

Berlin got what it wanted: For the fourth time since 2003, the race produced a men's world record to drum up coverage. The only problem: The race itself was a snooze-fest....