A small but noteworthy note. I've seen so many young men over the years who think they're running at other young men. They are not. They are running at me.

This quote means that many young men think that they are competing with and outdoing one another, but in reality, they are competing and trying to be better than the speaker of this quote. The speaker believes that the young men are actually trying to prove themselves to the speaker, not to each other.