Your GPS position is used to show where you are on the map and your position along any selected course, if you're near one.
(You can turn off your location if you want.) Choose a course in the Course field. Tapping the map shows the distance of that position along the selected course route.
The 3-dot menu contains useful options (such as navigating to the course itself with one tap).
Drag across the elevation profile to see the net climb or descent over that stretch, highlighted on
the map too; tap the profile to clear it.