It has indeed been a while! I have, however, moved on but since there were no replies forthcoming from my ex-colleagues, I thought I'd chip in.
If there is a good chance of you not making BD then you could always inform Radar early on and they might put a few extra miles between you and the guy behind you. A bit of extra braking wouldn't do any harm either, but if you know you're likely to miss it, just roll on down to the end without trying to make it may well provide a better result.
the tone of said lady was that of a school teacher/child
I can't think who that would be.
All the best
DC