mettelus
Back to the OP, I loaded the encoder scook provided (thank you!), but am still seeing the issue. Then I jumped into Adobe Audition and selected "Highest quality 44.1kHz VBR" and now that same 3:22 minute song shows up in Windows Media Player as 23 minutes!! But I will say this, Audition converted it so fast I blinked and missed the progress bar (no joke!).
 
So I am thinking the issue is the player you are using, not that the "converter is broken."

Thank you for confirming this issue.
 
This problem also persists in many other players I've been trying, even the player built into Google Drive, for example (showing the 3:37 song as over 9 minutes).  It makes the encoder kinda useless for sharing mp3's (unless you are cool with putting out wonky files). 
 

If it is an encoder problem, it appears that both Cakewalk and Adobe share the same problem. I tried to find the previous thread, could not find it on Google.

Personally, I've never had good luck with variable bit rate quality anyways for either audio or video. There always seems like parts are too compressed and you can hear or see what I call artifacts. Output a constant bit rate and compare file sizes. For audio my guess is the variable bit rate will not be significantly smaller anyways.

I did a third VBR in another program, with similar results... then I opened these mp3's with programs readily available in the "open with" command... (the three VBR mp3s were made with the TTSLame (above), Adobe Audition, and Protected Music Converter)
 
This is what happened when playing them:
   Windows Media Player & Movie Maker - opens but time bar is incorrect (length varies based on mp3 chosen as they were set to differing VBR settings)
   SONAR X3c - Ironically will not open any VBR mp3 if trying to "open with" X3 (says the file is corrupt), but does import them correctly into an audio track (all 3 VBRs) with the correct 3:22 timing
   Quick Time Player - hangs when try to "open with," program doesn't respond at all; but will open these files if Quick Time is already running (to the correct 3:22 timing)
   Adobe Audition - Will launch and play all three VBR mp3s with the correct 3:22 timing
 
   Pretty much a player issue... choose your weapons wisely
 

A while back when I installed X1 I posted this, it should still be accurate, I think.
 
"Using lame3.99.3-64 in Sonar X1"

http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/2463788

Studious
Thanks for that scook! I must say though, it is quite lame (pun intended) that Cakewalk charges for an MP3 encoder, yet they don't update it. 

Under the GNU open source agreements, for a commercial entity to include the lame encoder in a retail product there is a licence fee payable which is simply passed onto the end user as per the licence. As for updating it we are talking about a modest point release difference.
As the licence fees and other associated issues are not apply able for private non commercial use you can always use Cakewalk's simple instructions to setup the lame encoder yourself. Then you get it free and can update and use any version you choose.

If the encoder does not add an explicit tag for running time, or if the player can't interpret the tag, then the player has to calculate running time based on the number of blocks multiplied by their size. Obviously, this will always result in an incorrect number with files whose block sizes are not consistent.
 
It would appear that LAME does not write such a tag in a format that's readable by all players, so if this is important to you you'll have to either a) use CBR or b) use a different encoder. Audition, btw, uses its own Fraunhofer-licensed encoder. VBR files I've encoded with Audition all report correct running times.
 
 

i think that today, with less worry about storage space, CBR is the way to go (VBR was introduced to give even more compression/smaller file?) and fwiw, i always encode manually from a WAV (using razorlame) rather than as an export option from the daw

Just grab a little app called MP3 Diags - one of its functions is to repair the VBR Xing header data. one click! And it can do batches as well. I just create my MP3 in Sonar assign it to a folder setup for MP3 Diags and fix them, takes all of about 3 seconds when the MP3 is done!
 
http://mp3diags.sourceforge.net/

bitflipper
VBR files I've encoded with Audition all report correct running times.

I am glad you chimed in, since I do not understand the structure of these files. I have only tried this test once, and Windows Media Player "failed" on three different files. Are you implying that Windows Media Player reads Audition files properly for you? (Granted, I have locked out WPM from updating itself, so I might very well be "codec light" here?).
 
For folks on Win7 and earlier, I would "assume" that the average user would have WPM set as their "default" mp3 player, which may be the concern with the OP.
 
I definitely agree with the recommendations for higher data rate at CBR. They convert faster as well on that setting, and storage these days is not a big concern.