What pacemaker did -- he'd team spread, following a course (4,3,7)

I believe the answer is:

made the running

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'what pacemaker did' is the definition.
I can't tell whether this defines the answer.

'he'd team spread following a course' is the wordplay.
'spread' indicates an anagram.
'following a course' becomes 'running' (I am not sure about this - if you are sure you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'hed'+'team'='hedteam'
'hedteam' anagrammed gives 'madethe'.
'madethe'+'running'='MADE THE RUNNING'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for made the running that I've seen is " Set the pace".)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.

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