Singapore actress-host Sharon Ismail joined run club for people who hate running

Who: Singaporean actress and host Sharon Ismail, who is in her early 50s. She is a judge on Berani Lakon!, a Malay-language reality competition series in which non-acting personalities showcase their acting potential, and the winner gets to appear in a Mediacorp drama. The finale will be shown on Suria, mewatch and Mediacorp Entertainment on YouTube on Feb 10 at 8.30pm.

She is also the co-host of the Berani Lakon!’s companion podcast, Enter Frame, alongside the show’s executive producer Najip Ali.

She is married to Mr Jumari Mohd Osman, co-founder of luxury car dealership KC & Jo Hypercars. The couple have two daughters who are students.

“On a perfect Saturday, I wake up and do my stretches at home, just simple taiji-inspired moves – easy peasy, not-much-brain-power-needed type of movement.

Ideally, I would go for morning yoga with my girlfriends, then to the sauna and ice-bath at The Palm in Katong.

I love the coffee at Merci Marcel, a few doors away from The Palm. The salads at Plain Vanilla nearby are also good for brunch.

I like to visit my mum or take her out for a bit. She has dementia, but is still able to hold a conversation, so I want to keep her mind active by visiting places she may need a bit of prompting to remember. She likes flowers, so we will go to the Botanic Gardens or Gardens by the Bay more often in 2026.

We will also go to places where she enjoys her favourite nasi padang like Hjh Maimunah outlets and Coba Coba in Yishun, as well as briyani at Islamic Restaurant in Kampong Gelam.

Lately, I have been running with my personal trainer, Filza Dorah Sim, and her running group. It is the only running group I am likely to join because it is called the ‘I Hate Running’ Running Club and the criteria is that you have to hate running to join it. Perfect for me.

She started it with her female clients, but it has expanded to include family and friends. We run at different places to keep it interesting – from Stadium to East Coast to Marina Bay Sands.

For dinner, I usually like to try out new places or go back to favourite ones, since I’m catching up with my extended family or friends. They include Kucina Italian Restaurant at Kinex Mall, The Embun SG at The Oval, Sumac at Temasek Club and Old Bibik in Joo Chiat.

Sometimes, it’s date night with my husband. Or when both our daughters are home, we will try places like The Smok Hous Barbecue for smoked brisket and burnt ends.

We could also be at home, cooking with our younger daughter, Iman, as she likes to experiment with recipes she comes across on socials. The last really good one was Chinese dumplings, made lasagna-style, topped up with Tang Tea House’s chicken rice, with extra roast chicken.

On Sunday morning, if I am not recovering from a Saturday run, I like to go for the 9am zumba class at Punggol Sapphire or online via the Healthy365 app. It is a free community class and the instructor picks a good zumba playlist.

Last weekend, Iman made cheese omelette wraps and matcha lattes for brunch. My husband and I like spicy food, so we dress the omelette wraps with homemade jalapeno sauce made by our friends at Papa B’s, a home-based bakery. We like to support small local businesses whenever we can.

If we are taking my mum out, then we like our favourite Wak Ana stall in Bedok for nasi jenganan (rice served with blanched vegetables and a sauce made from peanuts, chillies and tamarind juice) and nasi rawon (rice with black beef soup).

Sometimes, we skip lunch because we had brunch. But when we are out exploring, we like Bored Tacos in Joo Chiat or the new Punggol Coast Mall.

Dinner is usually simple, as we have likely indulged enough over the weekend. It is a time to recalibrate, slow things down and prep for the week ahead.

Sunday evenings could also be a Netflix night at home with the family. We are also likely to FaceTime our elder daughter Sarah, who’s studying in the United Kingdom.”