GPS watch - unfair advantage?

I've heard about the central governor theory of fatigue before, but it was coming across it in Scott Jurek's book, Eat & Run, that got me googling for more. There are tons of writings on this topic, pros and cons. As I read up more on this, I'll come back to it in future updates. For now, I'm going to just use, as a working definition of central governor, that from Wikipedia: "a proposed process in the brain that regulates exercise in regard to a neurally calculated safe exertion by the body. In particular, physical activity is controlled so that its intensity cannot threaten the body's homeostasis by causing anoxia damage to the heart." This control is experienced as fatigue. First suggested by A.V. Hill in the mid-1920s, this theory has been more recently proposed by Tim Noakes of the University of Cape Town, South Africa as the Hill/Noakes Central Governor Model. In Jurek's book, he told the story about his friend Brian Morrison, for whom he paced in the 2006 Western States 100. Morrison, who was leading the race by more than 10 minutes, going into the Placerville High School track in Auburn, CA, just 300 yards from the finish, collapsed and couldn't finish on his own. His body apparently just "shut down." There are many other similar stories in marathon races. As runners, we all are aware of the mental aspect of running. We all run races faster than we train. We all run the last stretch to the finish faster, even though we felt spent just before. And, as I recently found out, I ran faster longer on a training run, when paced by someone else.

What does all this have to do with a GPS watch? Well, if the central governor theory is correct, then knowing exactly how much distance is left, in the race or in any particular stretch (such as to the next aid station), allows a runner to calibrate and thus run closer to one's physiological potential. And, with a GPS watch, one knows exactly (almost). I found this out during my recent half marathon at Dances with Dirt - Devil's Lake, where I ran with my very basic GPS watch and found myself running faster in several "last stretches" to the aid stations. Unfair advantage?

My basic GPS watch, from Timex (one of many brands available).