what kind of lights do you have? standard light cycle or a short one doesnt matter. i have cycled live rock in 32g brute with tons of life in it with no light for my current tank.
Yea, some people run lights when cycling for a few hours and some don't. I guess there are pros and cons to each as the light will be beneficial in you keeping some of the life forms alive in your rock that requires it as it cycles, but then on the otherhand, if there is something you wanted to die-off (like an un-wanted nuicance algae that requires light) then the light may promote it to continue growing. Personally, I ran my lights for a few hours a day without any issues just to keep the coraline going . On that same note, people do it without lighting and have the same results. Guess it is up to you.
When I cycled mine, I only had the light on in the fuge. My thinking on that was to get algae/chaeto growing there and not in my display right form the start. I wouldn't say that is the only way to do it, just what I tried.