Probably they are frightened to get their head chewed off by their charming Base Captain if "he " decides it IS an active runway. A lot of peeps in RYR just follow the regs to the letter ( even if aware they don't square up) as that results in the lowest risk exposure. Think you will find the individuals concerned know the score. A polite/ humerous request to stop celebrating Christmas early from the guy behind you usually works, unless you get a linguistically challenged one ( or one like the aforementioned BC who will probably tell you to f@ck off )