He began his career as a steeplechase specialist and won his first medals in that event, taking bronze at the 1988 Ibero-American Championships and then winning his first international title at the 1990 Central American and Caribbean Games in Mexico City.

During the New York City Marathon race in November, he recovered from a wrong turn seven-tenths of a mile before the finish that put him 40 yards behind his countryman Benjamín Paredes.

[7] At the start of 1995 he ran at the Tokyo Half Marathon and recorded his second-fastest ever time, coming second to Brazil's Eduardo do Nascimento in 1:00:47.

[5] Outside major events, he competed on the European road running circuit and had victories at the Giro di Castelbuono and Amatrice-Configno race in Italy in 1995.

He owns a successful company, Germán Silva Coaching, organizes races, and is the ambassador of the Texel Half Marathon in the Netherlands.

He also continues to enjoy his daily runs, coaching all levels of runners, including Mexico's best marathoner Madai Perez (2:22:59) and 2010 Central American Games gold medallist in the 10,000 metres Juan Carlos Romero.

He's also head coach athletics at La Loma, a high-altitude training center in San Luis Potosí and a successful businessman in Wellness International Network.